Light and Fire
by sprx777
Summary: Silver and Blaze have their children, and now must keep their only daughter hidden while providing a safe life for her. Will they succeed in keeping her from King Scourge? Third story for the Silver and Blaze trilogy. Read and Review, please.Mild Romance.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Birth**

It was night, the moon full and shining bright on the forest kingdom that existed just beyond Emerald Hills. The night was calm, but it was also filled with tension. The kingdom all knew what was happening, and it's people eagerly waited outside of castle. The thousands of Mobians that waited outside had enough tension that it could cause an end to a world. All of this paled in comparison to the tension that was within the castle.

Inside, there were maids and servants running everywhere, all trying to occupy their time, and do as they were commanded by the king and queen. The king, was waiting just outside of the delivery room, anxious, alone, and oh so very scared.

The ivory hedgehog was pacing back and forth, feeling his heart race faster and faster with each passing second. His boots clanked on the marble floor, his cape he removed and hung over a chair, he even removed his crown so he could feel a little more at ease. A kitsune walked up to the hedgehog and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Are you alright, my lord?", the fox asked, his two tails resting on the floor.

The hedgehog shook his head, the top five quills on his head swaying with his shake, and he said, "No... I'm worried... I mean, I just... you were there..."

"My king, you really shouldn't worry. The odds of having a daughter are the same as having a son. Just relax, and just worry about what you will name the child.", the fox said, and he pulled a clip board from out of no where to look over his notes.

"I know the odds, Tails, but you were there when we made the deal... how am I to deal with this?", the hedgehog asked, his quills, even the long ones on the back of his head, drooping.

Tails sighed and shook his head, "If you need to ask, then you may need to actually worry, King Silver."

The hedgehog called Silver sat down on a chair and prayed as hard as he could that his child would be a boy. He prayed that he would make the kingdom more prosperous, that the stupid deal he made wouldn't have to pass. He prayed with all his might, but in the end, he knew that fate was a hard thing to change, especially when it was foretold by the Master Emerald. As if on cue, a peach colored echidna female walked with a bundle of wraps in her arms. The cooing in those wraps made Silver smile a little.

"My king, I heard the glorious news and came as quickly as I could.", the echidna said, her dread locks swaying happily as she nuzzled the wraps.

"Thank you, Tikal. It's been so stressful these past months. It's good to see you hear too.", Silver said, taking smiling up at her, then offering her a chair.

Tikal looked at Silver with her cobalt eyes and asked, "What's the matter?"

Silver kept quiet for a moment, as he tried to ask the question with out it sounding so strange, "Would it be possible to change destiny?"

"Of course, but it is not possible to change something like this, if that is what you are implying.", Tikal said softly, and the wraps began to move a little with a bit of golden fur sticking out.

"Hehe, right... did you name your baby yet?", Silver asked, looking into the wraps where a cute little echidna baby looked back at him with a smile.

If the baby knew he was smiling, or what it meant, Silver would have asked why he was smiling. Instead, he rubbed the cheek of the echidna with a finger and smiled. The baby grabbed Silver's finger and squeezed rather hard for a baby.

"Got his father's strength.", Silver said, chuckling a little.

Tikal nodded proudly, "Yes. And to answer your previous question, we named him Jasper."

"That's a nice name, Tikal.", Silver noted, and took a deep breath.

"You aren't worried about it being a girl or boy, are you?", Tikal asked, knowing why it was such a problem tonight.

"No... I just don't know what to do... if it's a boy, the king will leave us all alone. If it's a girl, I'll have to watch her grow, knowing her fate...", Silver said, gripping the arms of the chair in frustration.

Tikal rocked Jasper gently, knowing that he was going to cry from all the negative vibes that Silver was giving off. She then put a hand on Silver's shoulder and said, "I know... I was there, but remember. Nothing will change unless you take action. You of all people know that."

Silver slowly nodded, knowing it was rather true. His past experiences were proof enough, but he felt in his heart that his only motivation was his wife, and she was giving birth this very minute. The thought that she was there for him through thick and thin was all he needed. A small smile came across his face and he said, "You're right, Tikal... I will change things. Blaze and I will think of something. We always did."

"Remember, you have your friends too. Shadow, Jet, Knuckles, and me too.", Tikal said with a smile.

"And Tambourine. The closest thing to a mother that I ever had.", Silver said with a large smile of nostalgia coming over him.

Tikal giggled and nodded, "Of course. I could never forget her. Just keep that smile up when you see your wife and child. Okay?"

"I will. Thank you, Tikal.", Silver said and he heard the doors open to the delivery room.

Tails had returned, and had a smile on his face, "My lord. Your child and wife awaits you. Come with me."

Silver nodded and hopped to his feet. Tikal got up and followed. Tails was about to stop her, but Silver said, "It's okay. She's a friend of the family."

Tails nodded and lead them both into the room, where drapes were hung around a bed that contained the queen. Silver opened the drapes and smiled when he saw her. A beautiful lavender feline with eyes as gold as his. She was holding a few wraps that were similar to the ones that Tikal had around Jasper. His heart beat quickly with every step he took to the feline that was holding their offspring.

"Silver, she's beautiful. Come see her.", Blaze said, beckoning her husband to her.

Silver gulped nervously and walked to his wife, and gasped at what he saw. There was another feline. Small, and with fur like his own. Her eyes were still closed, but he knew that they must have been as golden as the sun. They had to be. She was sleeping peacefully, not making a single sound except for her breathing as she slept. Her little tail was curled and she was wrapped to keep from the cold.

"Blaze... she's wonderful...", Silver said, and Tikal was standing next to him, looking down at the beautiful baby that lay in the queen's arms.

"Oh, if only Knuckles were here to see this.", Tikal said, lost in the sight of the shimmering fur.

When the light of the moon leaked into the room, it hit the kitten's fur, and did something rather unexpected. The light was absorbed in the fur and began to emit an amazing glow. The glow was more of a shine. It was just so bright that Silver had to half shut his eyes to keep an eye on his daughter. Blaze had to do the same.

"It's blinding... did she do this before I got inside?", Silver asked wanting to hold the kitten.

Blaze nodded and held her to Silver, hoping for her to be taken in his arms, "She did that the minute any light hit her. It was so beautiful. I wanted you in here so we could name her together."

Silver took her in his arms. Her light weight and the shining fur made a smile crawl on his face. Then the thought of the way the light hit her fur made him smile even more. He looked to Blaze and said, "Shall we call her Light?"

"I was thinking more of Shine.", Blaze said, stroking the kitten's little cheek.

Silver thought it over and nodded, "Shine it is."

The two smiled at each other and gave a peck on the cheek to Shine. Shine seemed to turn a little and then return to being restful. Silver looked to Blaze and said, "He's not getting his hands on her."

Blaze nodded," I wouldn't have even if you thought other wise."

"Tails... mark the baby as a still born. She never made it.", Silver said with a smile.

Tails looked at him with some curiosity before asking, "Why? She's healthy."

Silver gave a small wink and said, "Just do it. She died in the womb, but my wife is still able to have children."

Blaze caught on and smiled, "Yes, Tails. Please mark it under still born."

Tails just didn't get it until Tikal whispered something in his ear, "It's for the child's safety."

Tails blinked, then understood. He began writing on the chart. Female cat. Still Born. Date of death was December 1st. Mother is still fertile. After writing that, he sneaked a true birth certificate and wrote Female, born December first. Name is Shine the Cat. He passed the certificate to Silver and Blaze, and they both signed. Their family had started and Silver looked to Blaze, knowing she was thinking the same thing.

Blaze began to feel sleepy, and so Tails took Shine and put her in a basket for sleeping. As Blaze's eye shut, she promised herself and Silver that she would fight to her last breath to keep her family safe.

**Author's Note**

**Well, it's finally here. The story that ends the trilogy. Why are they so hell bent on keeping her existence a secret? What king are they speaking of? What will happen next? Find out on the next Chapter. Have fun, live life, and reach for the stars tonight.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Meeting**

Three months went by, and all was happy. The crowd that had waited on the night of Shine's birth left with drooping heads. The entire kingdom was saddened by the news of a still born. While the life of a prince or princess was not known to anyone, Silver and Blaze were happy knowing that they could raise their child in private and that she was safe from the hands of the neighboring king. All of that business will be revealed in time. For now, we come to a rather depressing morning.

Blaze was putting on her best attire for meeting with others of high class. Personally, she felt that a separation of classes was ridiculous. She considered doing this some time after it was safe to reveal her daughter to the kingdom. Till then, it was all hiding and separation.

Tambourine was standing there, watching Blaze, "I'll be with you, my Queen. Do not fret."

"I won't. I just didn't like meeting him the first time. I can see why my father never spoke of that king.", Blaze said, making her dress more comfortable with a little loosening. She then put on her crown and looked in the mirror, "I miss him, Tambourine..."

"We all do, my Queen. And your mother as well. And as for the neighboring king, let's just make sure you and he don't get into another fight.", Tambourine said and giggled.

"Hey, I would have won, if his guard didn't have to babysit.", Blaze pointed out.

"And if Silver didn't pull you back with his power, we would have had a war because of the big baby.", Tambourine said and sank into Blaze's shadow.

Blaze rolled her eyes and went to check on Silver. Silver was getting a bit of a lecture from Shadow, the ebony hedgehog with red high lights.

"Come on, Shadow. I can take care of myself.", Silver said, straightening out the cape.

"I am aware, but I was never known to take the word of anyone. Even the king before you. Then again, he and I were rivals.", Shadow said, helping Silver put on his boots.

"I really don't want to hear about those stories today.", Silver said, sighing in a little bit of anger, "I have to talk to that sick hedgehog today..."

Shadow seemed to glare at a general direction, "I know. Believe me, I despise the little twerp as well, but he's royalty, so we have to show general respect for him. Just make sure to hold the queen back."

Silver chuckled from the memory. The last time they had made a meeting with that king, it ended with a fit of outrage from a deal that involved their secret daughter. To sum it up, the kingdom neighboring theirs wanted payment for assisting in the repairs of the kingdom when Eggman-Nega and Mephiles ravaged the place. There wasn't enough money for the payment, so a deal was made. The king would marry the first daughter of Silver and Blaze. They didn't want it, and it would have been disgusting to do it at all. But they both discussed that it would be for the kingdom.

Reluctantly, the deal was made. The king made some rather vulgar jokes that irked the king and queen, but hearing it while Blaze was still pregnant... well, let's say that hell hath no fury like Blaze's scorn. They got into a little skirmish that made Silver laugh, but he had to stop it from going into a mini war that could turn into a full on war. But everything cooled down when they had no choice but to accept. Since then, it had been worry with out any end as to how they could ever have a child. All that changed three months ago when Shine was born. A plan formed, and now they only hoped that it would go off with out a hitch when they met the king.

Coming out of his nostalgia, Silver put his sword in it's scabbard and turned to Shadow, who awaited him and bowed. They exited the room and met with Tambourine and Blaze. With nods all around, they knew that it was pointless in taking time for an extra pep talk.

Once in the carriage that carried them to the meeting place at the Emerald hills, they all remained silent, mentally preparing themselves for what was to come. All while a motor bike came riding in, tearing the beautiful grass of the hills. The bike was accompanied by two others, one carrying a male bat with strange black fur that had silver highlights. On the other bike was strange looking bird. Read feathers with gold here and there. Though as strange as they were, they were actually decent people, just serving the wrong king, or at least it was so in the eyes of Silver and Blaze. The three bikes pulled over, and the lead biker removed his helmet to reveal a green hedgehog with cobalt eyes.

If silver didn't know better, he was looking at his own mother at this point. It would explain the similarity in personality that the hedgehog shared with his mother, but it didn't explain why Silver turned out so nice in comparison. Shadow had told him once that talent often skips a generation. He didn't know if that was a compliment or an insult, but he was just glad he wasn't the type to be a tyrant. The carriage pulled over and Blaze and Silver came out, followed by Shadow and Tambourine. The royal guard were dressed in appropriate armor, which was more than could be said about the bat and bird. They were wearing leather jackets, like their king.

"So, I heard the new of a birth, my dear friends.", the lime hedgehog said, while pulling out a pair of sunglasses to wear.

"Yes, and it probably would have been your future wife too.", Silver said, glaring at the king before him that would wear such casual clothing at an important meeting.

The hedgehog seemed a little confused, "You're speaking as though something happened. Was the child healthy, disabled, born with a defect?"

Blaze cleared her throat and said, "She was born dead in the womb."

The hedgehog stood there in a stupor, a little shocked by the news, "So, then how are we supposed to continue this deal then?"

"Well, my wife is still fertile, if that is what you mean.", Silver said, then he realized how strange that sounded, and then said, "That is that we can have more children, but we rather wait at this point... the death of the first is kind of hard for us."

Blaze nodded, and put on the best fake tears she could think of. She thought of her father's death, what Silver looked like when he died, and all the things that could make her sad, and it helped in making the tears flow. There was just one problem. The king that stood before them didn't care.

"If you mean that you want a little time, then I'll give you that. Spare me the tears.", the king said, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists.

"Right, of course... thank you, King Scourge.", Blaze said, and gave a respectful head nod.

Silver did the same, "We will try our very best to make sure that the deal is kept... although... in the event that she can't bare anymore children, and that you can't have our daughter, if she were to be, what would happen?"

The hedgehog named Scourge scratched his head in thought, knowing that this wasn't clearly thought through. Silver looked to his body guards and noticed that the bat's ears were twitching everywhere, listening for something. For what, Silver didn't know. The bird over there seemed to be just a little destracted, not wanting to really be apart of this. After a few seconds of thought, Scourge said, "There is only one solution to such a mess. No marriage, then no more assistance from my kingdom. Let's see how long you last with out my help."

"Scourge, you know as well as I that the fight with Nega and Mephiles left a large hole in the kingdom's wealth. You know we can't do this on our own.", Blaze said, pointing this out to him, but Scourge already knew.

"Yes, I am aware, my dear Blaze. Maybe it's because you married such a pathetic king.", Scourge said, looking to Silver with a little discontent.

Silver was ready to say something, but Blaze put an arm in front of him and said, "My decision of who the king here is was all mine, and out of the many who wanted me to be theirs, but my decision was clear on who was to be king."

"Even after my offer? A stable kingdom, wine that would never run out, satisfaction? All of that could have been yours.", Scourge said, a smirk coming across his face.

"You could have offered the world. My heart belongs to Silver, and his to me.", Blaze proclaimed.

"Heart? Please, I really don't know what you see in this Nazonian, but he truly is a disgrace. No royal blood or anything. Just a knight as far as I'm concerned, but should have been reduced to a servant.", Scourge said, looking at Silver for a response.

Silver bit his tongue and tried not to say a single word about those comments, but it was clear that hearing this was not something he really wanted to tolerate. Blaze took a deep breath to compose herself and not to burn Scourge to a smoldering pile of ash, "Alright, for one thing, he doesn't belittle his people or others, and he doesn't make such sickening deals such as marrying off a daughter to a king who is just mad that he didn't have me."

"Mhm, like you really didn't want me. You did it to spite me. I just know it.", Scourge said, "You especially did so because you knew that my last wife died and I needed you."

"That's because you killed her so you could try and have Blaze.", Silver said, growling between his teeth.

Scourge made a grin and said, "Details. Details. Fiona was a good fox for tail, but let's face it, a king with only one is just a bored king."

"Can we stop talking about this? I prefer that we just make what ever changes to the deal and get on with our lives!", Blaze shouted and summoned a circle of flame around the royals, separating them from the knights for a moment.

Scourge looked all around him, then gave a smirk, "A queen who knows what she wants. I can like that. Alright. I'll give you... seventeen years to produce a future queen for me. That is plenty of time to have her, and maybe present her."

"Why seventeen years?", Silver asked, "I mean, it's a long time, but wouldn't eighteen or twenty or so years be better?"

"Yes, but I prefer my queens young and ripe.", Scourge said, chuckling to himself.

Blaze did all she could not to toss a fire ball at Scourge for saying such a retched thing. Silver would have decked the green hedgehog if it weren't for the fact that the fire died down around them. The knights on both sides gathered to their respective royal sides and glared at one another.

Blaze sighed, feeling disgusted with what she was about to say, "Seventeen years... you might have a queen from us, and if not, you can't assist us any longer."

Silver added, "We are bound by our word as royalty."

Scourge nodded and went to his bike, revved it up a little and rode off into the distance with the bird and bat close behind. Blaze and Silver took a deep breath and walked back to the carriage in silence, knowing that this was just not going to be well for anyone. The only thing that brought a smile on their face was the knowing that Knuckles and Tikal were waiting for them in the castle to perform the timeless tradition of giving the Emerald Blessing to their precious Shine.

With in an hour, They were all gathered in a secret room just below the castle, Blaze holding Shine in her arms tenderly, and Silver admiring those beautiful eyes that looked curiously all around. Shine's eyes were as Silver thought they would be. As bright and golden as the sun. So innocent and pure. Tikal opened her arms to take the child and present her to the Master Emerald. With a smile, Blaze let her have Shine, and Knuckles called upon the power of the emerald to see her future, and to bless her with a good life.

Knuckles, Tikal, and Shine were bathed in a lovely green light that was warm to feel. Shine giggled cutely from the light, knowing it was friendly, and wanting to grab at it and feel it more. While this took place, Knuckles saw a beautiful princess, a smile never leaving her face. Loved by her family. He saw a second child, who was was very much like his mother, Blaze, in seriousness, despite his age. A happy life awaited them, but he then saw despair, hurt, and an emptiness. More importantly, he saw the fire.

The light was gone, and Tikal and Knuckles looked at one another, trying to mask their worry. They knew that such news would surely bring sorrow to the king and queen, so the two of them made a silent promise to each other. They were to tell them when the time was right, and when it was called for.

"She will have a healthy future, my lord. Shine will grow into a beautiful queen, and you will have another child soon.", Knuckles said as Tikal returned the child to Blaze's arms, and smiled.

Silver smiled back and came to wrap his arms around Blaze. The two enjoyed the feeling of not only themselves, but of their lovely daughter. With the word of Knuckles and the emerald still flowing in their minds, Blaze and Silver spent the next nine years loving their precious Shine. She was the light of their life. She had her mother's beauty, and her father's spirit. Always getting into trouble here and there, all while accompanied by her closest friend that she had ever known.

**Author's Note**

**Wow, I updated rather quickly. Things just got a little more dramatic. Now that such matters are done, we can move on to a new view. We know Shine is growing up, we know that she will have a sibling, and we know now that she has a best friend. What will happen in the next chapter? I'd tell you, but certain people won't let me.**

**Blaze: No spoiling, sprx.**

**Silver: That's right. Now, we hoped you enjoyed this episode. Please leave a comment if you have any for us.**

**Scourge: And for the ladies who leave a comment, I leave your number too.**

**Blaze: You pig.**

**Silver: Ignore him, Blaze. Have a nice life everyone.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Second life.**

Through out the forest that lay all around the kingdom there was a noise that pierced the air. It was laughter. The kind of laughter that make old men and women go crazy, and the kind that make any parent happy knowing it was for joy. Running through this lovely piece of nature, was a pure white feline, wearing a simple blue dress, and a pair of equally blue sandals. Her long hair flowing behind her as she ran in between trees, and started climbing.

"Come back here, Shine!", a young boy was yelling, his dreadlocks flowing as he ran after her with a fake sword in hand.

Shine giggled, hearing him down there and climbing higher, "Sorry, Jasper, but to make me stop, you have to get me!"

"I swear, you're a real brat sometimes.", the golden furred echidna said, punching his knuckles together before he started to climb. He wasn't doing that for any reason, just a habit he picked up from his father.

"Sticks and stone, Jaspy!", Shine giggled, sitting on the highest branch of the tree.

"Quit calling me Jaspy. It's Jasper, with an E.R. You know I don't like being called that.", Jasper said, finally reaching the branch.

Shine rolled her eyes and produced a little shield that she had taken from the echidna, "Sorry for taking it from you. It was the only way to get you up here."

"I would have come if you asked nicely.", Jasper said, taking the shield and putting it on his arm.

They smiled at each other and laughed a little. Jasper had wanted to be a knight ever since he was old enough to play with a stick. He would watch his father, Knuckles, use his swords with grace that he had wanted to perform with. Unfortunately, using two swords wasn't his cup of tea. He preferred using one sword and one shield. That's why, when Christmas came along, he asked for a sword and shield. Though made of wood, he vowed to one day be strong enough to wield the real deal. There wasn't a day when he didn't have it around. Today, how ever, he woke up with out it.

Shine had taken it so that she could take him up the tree that they were sitting in now. Her reason for doing so was simple. She wanted to see the sun rise, and the tree that they were in was the perfect spot to see the light reflect on the grass of the green hills. She just had a hard time trying to get him up there with out ruining the surprise. So, she thought she would take the shield and wait for him. Unfortunately, he woke up and chased her all around the forest. Though it was fun, she knew better than to anger Jasper. An angry Jasper, is a scary Jasper.

"No you wouldn't. You would have said something like...", she said and started to try to mimic his voice, "A knight has no time for fun. A knight must be ready to protect the kingdom, it's people, and the royal family."

"Well, it's true.", Jasper said, running a hand through his dreads.

"But it can get booooring. You need to relax and be a kid sometime.", Shine pointed out.

Jasper rolled his eyes, "If we weren't best friends, I'd toss you down the tree."

"Nu uh!", Shine said, giggling.

"And why would I not?", Jasper asked, giving a semi serious look to Shine.

"Because a knight would never do that to a princess.", Shine stated and gave a cute face.

Jasper did all he could not to barf, "Blah... girls are so weird. And you aren't princess yet. Not until that weirdo leaves your mom and dad alone."

"Yeah, who was he? Scrooge?", Shine asked, trying to recall the name.

"No, King Scourge. But he can be a major Scrooge.", Jasper said, laughing as Shine did to the little joke.

Shine finished giggling and looked to the hills, and saw the little shimmer of light that was rising up from the horizon. Tugging at Jasper's arm, she said, "Look. That's what I brought you up here for."

Jasper looked out and tilted his head in confusion. Then he saw it. The sun coming up from the hills, the light hitting the grass just right so that it would reflect off of it. This was what gave the hills their names. When the sun hits it just right, the light it produces is like the glow from a Chaos Emerald. Pure, beautiful, and inviting.

The two of them stared at the hills for a long time, enraptured by the lovely light produced by the sun. Some of the sun managed to come and hit Shine and Jasper. Shine's fur caught the light and instead of reflecting the light and creating an illusion, she began to glow. Jasper looked and giggled a little, "Shine, you're doing it again?"

Shine was still taken by the light of the Emerald Hills, and didn't notice yet, "Hm?"

Jasper shook her a little and said, "You're glowing again."

Shine finally snapped out of it when she heard him say glowing. She looked at herself and saw that it wasn't just the light from the sun. It turned out that she was really glowing. The light was coming from her fur. It didn't really surprise her. She learned that it happens a lot when she's afraid of the dark, and when she feels happy and warm inside. She knew how to make it go away, but she liked how it helped her stand out.

"Yeah, still does that. I like it though.", Shine said with a warm smile.

"But I think it's strange. I mean, your mom has power over fire, and your father has power over psycho something. You just glow.", Jasper said.

Shine took a little time to think of a response, but she honestly didn't have one. All she had that power and came to realize it when she was six years old when she had a nightmare about a polar bear chasing her. Though a funny story to tell, she still had no clue about why she had such a weird power. She gave up the thought and shrugged, "Maybe uncle Tails will know?"

"I don't know. He's been busy with your mom lately. Your dad too.", Jasper said, remembering what his mother said about today.

Shine's eyes widened and she suddenly remembered, "Today is when my mom is supposed to have her baby, huh?"

"Well, I believe so. You're going to have a little brother, or sister.", he said, looking over to the hills again.

"You're lucky. The closest I got to a sister is Tambourine, and she isn't around a lot.", Jasper said.

"Yeah... Jasper, can I ask you something?", Shine asked, looking down at the forest floor.

Jasper looked to Shine with a little bit of a bewildered look, and said, "Uh... sure. Fire away."

Shine took a deep breath and asked, "Will it ever be safe to leave this forest? I mean, even after my new sibling is born?"

Jasper nearly fell out of the tree when he heard that question. Being best friends meant that they could tell each other anything and never freak out. And if there was a problem, they would help each other through. What made this a little strange was that this question was one that he knew he couldn't answer. With a sheepish smile, he said, "Um... maybe we should ask my dad that... I really don't know."

Shine kept her head down and sighed, "Yeah... I guess... I'm just tired of hiding in that castle and in this forest. I want to go out there with the people, to make new friends."

"I'm not a good enough friend? Thanks a lot.", Jasper said, hoping a little joke would help lighten the mood a bit. No pun intended.

"You know what I mean, Jasper. I mean, how many of your friends know I even exist?", Shine asked, almost at tears.

Jasper was about to say plenty of people, but then he realized that he never once talked about her outside of the castle, forest, or anywhere near other people except for those that his father and mother said knew about her. He had always kept her a secret. Now he knew why he was her best friend. He was her only friend.

"... well... maybe things will change when the baby is born. Everyone is prepared for when it arrives.", Jasper said and hopped to his feet, "Come on. Let's get down. I wanna go see if everyone is excited about this."

Shine thought about it, and knowing that her sibling was going to be born soon was enough to cheer the kitten up. They both began their assent to the forest floor, where a rather displeased looking chameleon was awaiting them down below. His purple scales made him seem rather flamboyant, but he was as dead serious as any of the knights.

"Where have you been, Shine?", the chameleon asked, his tone filled with seriousness.

"Er... in a tree...", Shine said and looked down a little. Knowing to be afraid of him, she decided to add a little respect to the explanation, "We were just watching the sun rise, Mister Espio."

The chameleon, Espio, looked from Shine to Jasper and said, "Alright, fair enough, but you should know better than to wonder off with out knowing if I'm around. And Jasper, as a knight in training, you should make sure to keep her safe."

The last part was to give Jasper a sense of duty, to make him feel important in the grand scheme of things. Luckily, it had worked in the past. The real part was that he was a knight in training. The part that wasn't actually true was that his duty was to protect the princess. He added it to ease his own job and to make sure that Jasper kept her safe. Like I said, it usually works.

"Yes, sir! I have never gotten her in trouble yet. And have never failed at getting her out of trouble.", Jasper said proudly.

"What about that one time by the lake when we nearly got eaten by a giant fish until Espio saved us.", Shine pointed out, remembering the event well. That was the day that she vowed never to eat a fish again.

Jasper turned to Shine a little sheepishly, "Th-that doesn't count. The fish came from no where, and I was tanning."

"You still look as gold as ever, Jaspy.", Shine said.

Espio gave a small chuckle to the pet name, but Jasper wasn't very amused. Jasper seemed to nearly turn red in embarrassment and said, "It's Jasper! And for the record, I happen to like gold. It looks nice on me. Unlike a certain kitten I know who is as pale as the snow."

"Touche. Jasper was as sharp as the sword he wished he had.", Shine said, giggling a little.

The both of them laughed a little and Espio relaxed a bit and smiled before saying, "Now let's get back to the castle. We don't know when the baby will be born, but the king said to make sure that you two were present."

Shine looked at Espio and nodded before taking off towards the castle. Jasper ran close behind. Espio just stood there and slowly disappeared into the background like the ninja he was. He remained close to them through the cover of the trees, but he was still surprised by how fast the two of them went. They definitely take after their parents in more ways than one. In a matter of minutes, and some huffing and puffing from losing their breath, they entered the castle from the back way, noticing a large majority of the people in the kingdom were outside and eagerly awaiting the news of the child to be.

Shine wondered if it was like this on the night she was born. Were there tons of people there? Did they cry when they thought she died? Will she ever look at these people and say she is their princess? All this and more were flying in her head when she stepped into the castle. Servants, with out speaking, lead them to the delivery room. Everyone was waiting outside. Her father was sitting on a chair, tapping his foot with anticipation.

"Dad!", Shine squealed in joy as she ran to her father.

Silver looked up at her and opened his arms happily, and taking Shine into his embrace, "Shine, where have you been?"

"She was in the forest, my lord.", Jasper said, trying to sound like a knight.

Silver looked to Jasper and smiled, "Thank you, Sir Jasper. Your vigilance will be noted and rewarded. You are a great knight in training."

Jasper's pride and smile grew more and more, posing with his shield and sword as graceful as he could. Tikal watched and giggled from the sight of her son acting so much like a young knight. He reminded her of Knuckles back when she and he were children. The memories were all amazing, but she eagerly awaited the next birth to the royal family.

Tails, walked out to the waiting room and said, "Good news. She's going into labor... there is bad news though..."

"What's wrong?", Silver asked, still holding Shine to him, and looking ever so scared.

"This may be her last child... the way the baby is positioned, and how we will take it out... well... after this, she will no longer be fertile...", Tails said with his head low, "Your family will end with Shine, and this child."

Silver looked down and sighed, "Well... as long as this child is healthy, then I will be happy to accept our new member of the family. Shine too."

Shine nodded, "Can see the baby?"

Tails nodded and went back to the delivery room. It was a long wait. Well, not really. Thirty minutes was relatively short, but with the tension in the air for the arrival of the new baby was all it took to increase the length of time. It felt like an eternity. Tails stuck his head out and smiled, "Will Shine and Silver please come in. all others must wait."

Silver and Shine got up from the chair and walked into the delivery room. Inside, Blaze had the same smile she had nine or so years ago. In her arms was a beautiful sight. A dark purple male hedgehog. His quills looked exactly like Silver's. He even had a faint mane growing around his neck. Shine tried to have a look, and when she saw the baby, a smile grew on her face.

"Is that...?", Shine began, her smile growing and growing.

Blaze nodded, "This is your baby brother. Your father and I already planned names for when it came out as a boy or girl. I'm happy to call him, Fuego."

"Fuego...", Shine rolled that name in her head for a little bit and whispered to the sleeping little hedgehog, "Hello Fuego... I'm your sister... Shine..."

Fuego slept happily, yawning a little and curling in Blaze's arm. Silver looked to Blaze and kissed her cheek gently, "He's a handsome baby... Tails told me about... you won't be having..."

"I'm not worried about what I could have, Silver. I'm happy with what I have. You, Shine, and now Fuego.", Blaze said, nuzzling Fuego gently and then looking to Shine, "Shine, honey, I want you to promise me that while you grow up with Fuego, you will protect him."

"I promise, mom. He's so cute. My baby brother.", Shine said dreamily, staring at the little hedgehog again and imagining the fun they will have when he gets older.

**Author's Note**

**Wow. I'm on a roll. Thee chapter in two days. I guess it help to have a vacation from school like I do. Looks like things are all smiles. I wonder if things will change in the years to come. And for those who know me and how my stories work, you know there will be. Again, special thanks to Charmy Electra for providing the rights to use Jasper the Echidna and Fuego the Hedgehog.**

**Jasper: You should be honored to be using me. I am a knight.**

***glares at him*  
**

**Jasper: Or soon will be...**

**Shine: At least we got some decent screen time. This story looks kinda weird though. Why does that green hedgehog want to marry me?**

**I wish I know. :/**

**Scourge: Now now, like I said. All ladies can have a piece of me later.**

**Shine: Oh brother.**

**Jasper: Come on. We need to get ready for the next part. See you all there!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Schemes**

A large castle that is beautiful to behold is facing the more modern city of the iron kingdom. Machines and organics walking side by side. All going about their day. The castle is made entirely of a chrome colored material that never loses it's shine do to the servants, and their machine partners, constantly cleaning it. By a first glance, you many would say that the king was amazing, strong, and maybe even kind. As many know, appearances are deceiving. Taking a few steps inside, and you see the clean floors, and the the beautiful architecture, but there is only one thing that creates the biggest stain to the whole facade. A green blur that cackles at those who are in it's way, and are trampled on by it's feet.

The blur, believe it or not, is merely pacing. All he's doing is killing time while he waits fro his spy to return to the castle. His only company is the scarlet and golden bird that sits in a humble chair, waiting for the king to calm down. He knew that King Scourge was always one to just keep on moving to keep himself entertained. Knowing this, he sits and waits for him to either slow down and make conversation, or just ready for a fight. It appeared that it would be the first choice, because the green hedgehog stopped before the bird and asked, "So, Pryxo (pronounced Prizo), are you sure of these suspicions of yours?"

"Naturally, my lord. I have never been wrong before, and I certainly wasn't going to be wrong now. It has to be true.", the bird, known as Pryxo said.

Scourge ground his teeth and paced in just one spot. He had sent the bat to do a little scouting for the supposed birth of the child. Pryxo looked at the king and said, "Listen, you should stop worrying. As I recall you saying before, you're too cool for trivial matters."

"I am aware of what I said, I was the one who said it.", Scourge yelled, "I'm just anxious to find out if I shall marry the daughter of the single most perfect queen in all the land."

"I haven't seen you this worked up since you claimed that Fiona was the fairest one.", Pryxo said, chuckling a little to himself.

Scourge joined the laughter, knowing that it was true. He had regarded Fiona a the greatest, and fairest of all women in the land. No one questioned that fact. He had even seemed to make the previous king before Silver jealous of him, but what made the hedgehog so angry was that the king mentioned never showed any sign of discontent. How could anyone be happy if they didn't have the best. Scourged had met the queen, and though she was beautiful, he didn't see anything that caught his interests in her. All she was in his eyes was a strange chipmunk squirrel thing that was queen and had a decent heart, but apparently, no wild side.

"Yes, and she was very wild, Pryxo. No queen could have ever satisfied me more than her...", Scourge said in a growing grin.

The grin slowly went away when Pryxo said, "Until you laid your eyes on the princess of your rival, no?"

Scourge did all he could not to lose his temper. At that very moment, he was ready to spin-dash the bird into the wall, and pull out everyone of his feathers as he did so. While true, he did see something in the young princess at the time, but he also knew that there was a rumored war that was ready to take place in the Emerald Hills that his sister, Ventuss, was ready to take part in. How she had become a leader of such filth, Scourge would never understand. When he saw what dancing and fighting that Blaze at the time could do, he became more and more attracted to the young princess. He knew that she was adopted, and that it made it all the better in his eyes.

"I recall... and that feline was surely perfect. Mature beyond her years, fast, and surely wild. Till that runt showed up.", Scourge said and growled at the same time.

Pryxo's laughter just escaped him and all he could do was try to keep from not falling at all, "You mean your nephew? Ventuss' son? I am not really surprised by her choice at all."

"Why is that?", Scourge said, getting closer to the bird, "Say the wrong thing, and you'll go from Phoenix to a roasted chicken in a blink of an eye."

Pryxo gulped a little, and thought of a lie rather quickly, "He was obviously doing it to spite you, my lord, as was she. Remember, she probably wanted you the most, this is merely a test of how far you are willing to go to have her."

Satisfied with the answer, Scourge backed off, and said, "Yes. It had to be. After all, even if it is the daughter of my nephew, he doesn't know we are family. This will be spite for him, and it will be spite for Blaze for ever trying to test me."

Pryxo was a little disgusted by the conversation of family marriages, so he coughed and tried to change the subject by asking, "So, what did you send Reverb to do?"

"I thought I already told you, bird, I sent Reverb to do a little recon. He's to go to the ceremony of the presentation for the child of the king and queen, then report back if he saw anything suspicious, or if it is a girl.", Scourge said, feeling proud of his plan.

"Right, and he'll tell you if my suspicions are correct.", Pryxo said.

The suspicions that he spoke of were discussed one day over dinner in the dining hall. Pryxo had been replaying the events of the meeting over and over again in his head. It had been like that for a number of years, and it started to bug him. Though he remembered the words spoken, he also remembered the expressions of the king and queen when they mentioned the child was dead. They both seemed to be forcing the expression of sadness. All looked to be a mere facade and Scourge and Reverb bought it. Pryxo was the only one to not buy into it at all. He had wondered if the death was caused by their hands, or if the death was a lie.

"If it does turn out that they lied to me all those years ago, then you and I have to prepare our armies.", Scourge said.

Pryxo's eyes widened as he asked, "But, my king, isn't it a bit drastic to consider war for a little deception?"

"I am the king, and as I stand here before you, I declare that any lies towards me will be dealt with severely. And the lie of there being no princess for me to marry is simply an outrage, especially after all the help I put into fixing their broken kingdom."

While it was true that he did help in financially helping the forest kingdom, as well as providing the materials for the rebuilding, and for making up for lost products of the devastation caused by Eggman-Nega. All of this was added up to many pounds to gold, more pounds than the kingdom even had. Scourge saw this as an opportunity to either convince the queen to consider marrying him instead of Silver. Instead, they got married on the day before they had their first meeting to discuss the price of the assistance. When that occurred, she was later found to be pregnant with a child a few months later. This made Scourge so very angry, that in his anger, he had killed his own wife in bed. No one suspected that it was him except for Pryxo and the bat, Reverb.

Unfortunately for Scourge, Pryxo didn't really approve of such a condition. The phoenix had to hold his tongue during the negotiations due to the simple fact that it was wrong to ask for the hand of an unborn child in marriage before it had a choice was wrong, but the king was the king. He remained loyal. Though he knew it was wrong, he remained loyal to Scourge through it all, as did many of his ancestors and family that serve fellow kings around the world of Mobius. He would tell the king everything he wanted to hear, and always be rewarded for it. That was enough for him.

"Of course, my king, I understand that such a lie should be dealt with, and I shall support you, but is a war really needed?", Pryxo asked, feeling the feathers on his head droop slightly.

Scourge nodded, making his point clear on the matter. There was going to be no more of talk of the war, because it was going to be started if it did turn out to be a lie. After waiting a little longer, there came a tap on the window. Scourge looked to the window and saw the black and silver fur of Reverb. He had a tuft of hair on his chest, as well as wings that were as dark as his personality. Surely no one could ever trust the likes of such a bat that looked like he would lie through his teeth. In truth, he was in fact a truthful bat, and an incredible scout above all.

"I've come with news, my lord.", the bat known as Reverb said.

Scourge took a seat and listened to what Reverb had to say.

"Alright, I saw the ceremony. The child was born. It's a boy. Looks just like Silver, only with his mother's fur. They say that he's the Prince Fuego. Now, I looked more at them when they were presenting the child, and I saw the group that surrounded them. There was something odd.", The bat said, feeling a little out of breath from having spoken so much at once. He was not used to speaking as he was to taking action.

"And? Go on.", Scourge said, gripping the arms of his chair.

"And, there was a strange little girl that stood next to the queen. A little white cat. At first, I thought she was merely a servant girl who they hired to help support their child like sister would.", Reverb said.

"Seems like an awful lot of analyzing there, Reverb.", Pryxo said, already knowing where the conversation was going.

"Let me finish. Now, when I looked closer, I was pushed back by that black echidna, Tambourine. She seemed to make sure that no one got too close the the queen and king. But she also seemed o be willing to get in the way of anyone who was looking at the kitten by the queen's side."

Scourge finally caught on and said, "Are you implying that the girl is their child?"

"Yes, but I am not too sure. Only got a short look and the echidna girl got in my way. I'll need more time scouting the area to make sure that my observations are correct.", Reverb finished, and went to go hang upside down on a pole in the ceiling.

Scourge hopped off of his chair and paced for a little bit. The echidna was a problem in her eyes. She could easily spot Reverb now that she knew who to look for. He kept pacing and pacing, hoping the idea would come to him. With a sudden cough that came from Pryxo, Scourge had his scheme thought out, and with a toothy grin, he looked to Pryxo and said, "My fine feathered friend, you are going to be one smooth bird."

Pryxo looked at his king with confusion and much to his dismay, realization of what he meant. Lord Chaos, forgive Pryxo for what he must do.

**Author's Note**

**Wow, I really need to stop working so fast like this. I bet you all are getting tired of my little author's notes that I make at every chapter. I won't have another author's note on the next chapter, but I do look forward to seeing criticism of my work. Negative, positive, and constructive are all welcome. I also notice that the holidays are on their way. Expect a nice Christmas chapter to appear in this story. I'll be accepting ideas for a Christmas chapter that will will stop being accepted on the 15th of December. If no ideas are submitted to be compared with my own so that I give credit where credit is due, then I will go with my original plan for the Christmas chapter. **

**Scourge: I know what I want for Christmas.**

**Of course you would. -_-**

**Scourge: It's your own fault.**

**Nope, I blame Archie comics because they are the reason you exist and why a lot of drama started in the series.**

**Scourge: Hey, Sonic got a lot of tail too.**

**I'm not hearing this! *plugs my ears***

**Scourge: Well, that's enough banter. See you all when I reveal my plan!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Growing up secret**

The sun was down, the crickets all chirping, and the owls all hooting in the distance. All the lights in the kingdom were out, leaving almost perfect darkness except for the light made by moon that shown it's lovely shade of ivory across the sky with the stars all speckled all against the blackness above. All was still, and not a sound heard. Except for the light patting of footsteps in the woods. The noise carried on into the village, a small light accompanied a feline figure, moving swiftly across the village. There was a lavender figure on the figure's back, and not a peep escaped either of them. The figure stopped at a window in front of the house of the echidna family.

With two short taps, the figure waited before putting down the lavender creature. There were a pair of eyes. Golden and innocent looking. He looked up at the feline and said, "Sister, you sure that Jasper will open up for us?"

The figure nodded and said, "Fuego, you need to stop worrying so much. It'll be alright."

"Okay, Shine... I just don't like the dark...", Fuego said, shivering a little and coming closer to Shine.

Shine smiled gently and wrapped her arms around him. Being that he was only four now, Fuego was still afraid of new things. Shine's mother and father were happy that he matured rather quickly, but Shine knew that he was still like her, and their father. Filled with child like energy, and having some of the same traits. Shine took to humming the same song that always made Fuego feel better. Silver, their father, would always sing it to her before she went to sleep. On more than one occasion, she would ask him what the song meant, and Silver would always say, "Forgiveness."

Shine was old enough to understand the entire song, and she even began to sing it with her father, just so that she could spend time with them. Now that Fuego was around, Shine would always sing, or hum to Fuego that special song. Gently rubbing his quills, Shine hummed their favorite tune. Dreams of an Absolution. Fuego began to calm down slowly, listening to the melody flow in his ears. Shine began to feel peace and also glow her light. Sure enough, her fur was doing just that. There was a wonderful white light that was gentle, and calming. It added to the effect of the song that Shine was humming. Soon, Fuego felt no more fear, and got up on his own two feet.

The window opened and a young golden echidna stuck his head out of it. When he spotted Shine's light, he said, "I hate to break it to you, but the light is gunna wake my parents up, and then we'll be in a lot of trouble."

"Hey, come on. Me, get you in trouble? Never.", Shine said, and stuck her tongue out.

Fuego looked up at the echidna and waved a gloved hand at him. The echidna waved back, "So, Fuego, how is your night so far?"

"Good... a little scared...", Fuego said and hid behind Shine and her blue dress.

"I see he's still a little shy. You ought to take him out more often, you know.", the echidna said and hopped out of the window, and landed a perfect dismount.

Shine rolled her eyes, "Come on, Jaspy. He's only four. Once he grows, he'll have no fear. Right, little bro?"

"You betcha, big sis...", Fuego said, still behind his sister.

Jasper ran his hand through his dread locks and sighed, "Anyway, about this place I'm gunna show you, you all have to promise that it be kept a secret."

"We promise. I can't go out anyway, remember?", Shine said.

Fuego nodded and said, "I'll never tell mommy and daddy."

Jasper nodded and started heading back into the forest, Shine and Fuego close behind. Jasper began sharing some stories about what he did when he was in knight training, and what things were like in the village so far. The latest news, and all the rumors about the neighboring kingdom sending in a spy. Shine smiled at hearing such news, but the smile was all a facade. How could she be happy when she couldn't even leave the castle grounds except by night? How could she be called a princess when everyone thinks she died at birth. She didn't want to be princess, but that wasn't the point for her.

Fuego squeezed Shine's hand a little. It wasn't a scared squeeze, it was more like the kind that people make when they know that something is wrong. Shine stopped and gave Fuego a big hug for at least caring a little. Fuego hugged back and smiled a little. Jasper stopped and looked at each of them with a bit of a confused look, then he remembered the situation and said, "Um... again... sorry..."

Shine shook her head and presumed to carry Fuego with her, "It's okay, Jasper... maybe one of these days... I can finally walk the streets of this kingdom with no more fear or worry."

"Cheer up, Shine. One of these days, I'll make you smile so hard, you'll never be sad again if you keep this up.", Jasper proclaimed and, wiggling his fingers in her face.

Shine giggled a little, then pushed his fingers out of the way. After walking for some time, they arrived at their destination. It was a little lake, the moon being reflected off it's surface like the light coming from Shine, and not a single thing disturbed the water, say for the fish that were beneath it. All was calm, beautiful, and...

"This seems a little...boring...", Fuego said seeming a little less than impressed.

Jasper smirked and waved a finger in his face, "That's because you guys are looking at the glass half empty."

Shine didn't get it, and just stared at the lake, then she saw something by a large rock. The rock looked like a tooth from a crocodile that was pointing upward. That wasn't what really caught her attention, but how the rock seemed a tad out of place. It stood out just next to the lake, but it was so very strange because it looked like it was an entrance. Jasper noticed that she was staring at the rock and smiled when he said, "I see you found it then. Come. You'll love it."

Jasper walked up to the rock, hit his knuckles together and then gave a good punch at the rock. A hole appeared at the base of the rock. The rocks that were making the appearance of a perfect rock was a very nice little trick in the eyes of Shine, so she took her brother and walked to where Jasper stood. The trio stared into the dark tunnel that led below the lake. Fuego became more and more curious as he looked down. He looked to Shine and asked, "Could you light the way, please?"

Shine nodded, and closed her eyes to help her concentrate. A lovely glow came from her fur, started to light the way. Both Fuego and Shine took their first steps in, while Jasper was leading the way. The trio descended into the darkness, only armed with what they had on their backs, and the sword that Jasper was carrying. His father had finally given him a sword, but it was a beginner's blade. Knuckles told Jasper that when he gets older and more experienced, he would earn a sword for himself. A blade that would match his personality.

After descending about twenty feet down, they stopped at a little cave that was littered with crystals. The walls glistening from the moisture, and Shine's light hitting the crystals enough to make them all glitter with a multitude of colors all around.

"I found this when I was practicing my swordsmanship. I went down with a torch and found all these neat crystals. Next thing you know, I'm relaxed and happy.", Jasper said touching one of the crystals and enjoying the smooth feel against his hands.

Shine heard every word, and began to understand the feeling. The serenity, the peace, the sheer beauty of the cave was enough to make her think that all of her problems that she thought were bothering her were nothing. Fuego started to do the one thing that any scared, yet curious, four-year-old would do. He separated from Jasper and Shine to go exploring the area. He saw a little tunnel and took a deep breath before taking a few steps inside. He had to freeze because he heard breathing that wasn't his own. Then, a low groan.

"Sh-shine... is that you?", Fuego asked, shaking in the spot he stood.

The breathing and groaning continued into the cave. Fuego gulped and began to whimper a little. This caught Shine's attention and she walked towards Fuego and hugged him tight, "Fuego, don't ever leave my side again."

Fuego nodded and gestured to be quiet. Shine did so and noticed that there was in fact another breathing. Jasper came running after Shine and heard it too, drawing his sword out. As a group, the three of them began walking towards the sound. The groaning was louder the farther they went into the cave. There was minor movement in the shadows of Shine's light, and they all froze. Jasper did his best to look as brave as he could so as to give Shine and Fuego some courage as well. Though, as mentioned, it was more for himself than it was for them. The shifting shadow wasn't very fast, and it groaned more before Jasper asked, "Who's here?"

The groaning voice stopped for a moment and kept quiet the entire time, like it was waiting to hear more. Jasper assumed more needed to be said so he said, "We aren't going to hurt you... just tell us who you are, and why you're here."

The voice struggled in taking a breath and said, "Come closer so I can see you... I don't want to be hurt... I'm hurt enough, thank you..."

Jasper looked to Shine and Fuego before moving forward and to the source of the voice. When they turn a corner, they see a rather badly beaten bird. His beak had blood going down, his breathing looked terrible and irregular, his feathers were a mess all together, and his arms looked badly broken. Shine gasped, covering her mouth in fear from seeing such a poor creature. Fuego looked ready to cry, but instead, he walked up to the bird, looking at what must have been beautiful red feathers before being torn like they were. He then gave a gentle hug to the bird.

The bird took a sharp breath of pain, but appreciated the hug. His wounds were unbearable, and he wished that he could get out of that dark and evil cave. Jasper knelt down to inspect the severity of the wounds. They were all bad, and he guessed that the bird must have been in the cave for a long time. He looked up and asked, "How did you get down here?"

"I was... escaping that damned king... the green one with the foul mouth...", the bird said, coughing up blood.

"He did this to you?", Shine asked, looking around, praying that Scourge wasn't any where around. Though she never met him in person, seeing his pictures, and hearing the rumors about him are enough to put her on alert.

The bird nodded, "I am Spit-Fire. Now that you know me, who are you?"

"I'm Jasper, knight of the Royal Family.", Jasper said, holding his sword out in a little pride. Another trait he picked up from his father.

Fuego and Shine stared at Jasper for a little while before Jasper said, "Or... soon will be...", and he ran his hand through his dreads.

"I'm Fuego, and this is Shine. How did you get in here though?", Fuego asked, letting go of Spit-Fire and looking a him curiously.

"I escaped here. Barely, I might add. I was opposing the king so many weeks ago, then he sent his bat after me, and he did this to me. That king is a cruel one.", Spit-Fire growled, looking down, and coughing again.

Jasper looked to Shine and they both didn't need to speak at this point. They knew that they needed to get him to the village. How to get him moving was easy, how to explain to their parents that they broke their curfew was the slightly harder part. Silver and Blaze were going to have a field day with Shine and Jasper.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Good news?**

Shine sat by her window, the breeze blowing into her room and making her long hair flow a little. Her hair went down to almost past her shoulder blades. It had been like that, and she refused to get it cut. It felt like her, and she thought that if she couldn't have any other freedom, then she could at least have her hair grow to how she wanted. Though it wasn't enough to satisfy her hunger for the freedom she so desperately craved, it was enough to keep her sane. The one thing that made her smile was that she could at least talk to someone that wasn't a servant, or someone her mother and father knew. The bird known as Spit Fire had been in the infirmary for a few days, and the good news was to be given today. Shine was fortunate enough to have her Uncle Tails come today to give the good news to her first.

A knock on the door made her stand up quickly, and run to open the door. A quick swing, and there was Tails, the yellow kitsune with a smile on his face. Shine gave him a big hug and said, "Good morning, Uncle Tails. So what's the news?"

"What, no 'how did you sleep?' You like to get to the news rather quickly. You are deffinately Silver's daughter.", Tails said with a smile, "As for the patient, he's okay. He'll be stuck in bed for months though. I have never seen a creature so beaten up before. I mean, the king and queen have been injured before, but this bad? Sheesh."

"How long is a few months? In your opinion.", Shine asked, tilting her head and showing worry on her face.

Tails pulled out a clip board that had the notes and charts he had on the poor bird and said, "A solid year actually. He can talk, but it will be a while before he ever fully recovers. Then there is the therapy."

Shine's ears drooped a little and she looked down at the ground with a defeated look on her face. After getting punished, and being sent to her room for Chaos knew how long, she couldn't be able to spend time with the new Mobian at all. She can still remember the annoying conversation from the week before even now.

**Flash Back**

"_I can't believe you would leave the castle, even after I told you that to do so would possibly spell your doom!", Blaze said, some flames coming from her lovely lavender fur._

_Shine gulped and took a few steps back, trying not to feel hot under the intense heat of her mother's flames. She had no idea how her father, who was standing right next to her, was not sweating from the fire being all around him and her. Fuego didn't seem to sweat either. Though, it was expected. Fuego had some fire in him as well, but had not been able to control it yet. Mother was working on that one, and father was helping Shine with her power over light._

_Jasper stepped up between Blaze and Shine before saying, "It was my fault. They wanted to visit because I told them about my cave. I took them to it. Don't get mad at her, my queen."_

_Silver looked at the golden furred echidna and said, "You parents will deal with you, Jasper. They will be here to pick you up momentarily. I'm very disappointed in the both of you."_

_Blaze nodded and put her flames out, "You, Shine should know better by now. Your father and I know when it is safe to let you out of the castle. That's why you come to parties with us."_

_This was true, and Shine knew it, but she was always dressed as a made, or servant girl. That might explain why Shine enjoyed the color blue. Aside from it making her ivory fur stand out, it also was something she grew comfortable with. All the other dresses she didn't enjoy. The only thing she didn't like was actually being considered a servant at parties and having to cater to everyone's whim. Luckily, Jasper was always around to make sure she was out of trouble._

_Shine nodded at her mother's statement and said, "Yes, I know... I just really wanted to get out of here... I rarely get to go outside, or hang out with other kids... I mean, I like being with Jasper, Fuego, and all the people of the castle, but I don't like being cooped up in here while there is people out there to meet... to get to know..."_

_Jasper looked back at Shine and noticed that same defeated look she had on her face when they went into the forest to explore the cave. It was then that he understood why she was so miserable a lot of the time. She was down right lonely. Blaze and Silver looked at each other and could already feel the pain in their chests. They knew that it was killing her childhood, and that she was sad, but they wanted to keep her safe from anyone who would take her away. In other words, Scourge. Then, Blaze took a deep breath and put on her "angry mother" face, and said, "The point is that you wen out and then put Fuego in possible danger. For that, you are to stay with in the territory of the castle for a month. No longer will you go outside, and Jasper will stay away for a month as well."_

_Shine looked at her mother with a mixture of anger and sheer sorrow, "No please... don't do that."_

_Silver tried his best not to try and lesson the punishment. He needed to be firm if he was going to protect her. He watched, and knew that Blaze was taking the biggest of the pain. She was the one who had to actually punish her for something that they themselves had done when they were children. They kept telling themselves that it was for the good of Shine that they were doing this. Jasper looked at the king and queen and was very tempted to jump in and say something, but Shine was hugging his arm, crying on his shoulder._

_Silver sighed and knew the pain all too well. The tearing apart of a friend. It was like how he and Blaze had met. He then spoke up at last, "Jasper, go to the gate. Your parents must be here by now. Shine, you go to your room."_

_Shine gave Jasper's arm a final squeeze before letting go and running up the stairs. Jasper watched her go, then turned to the door and walked out of the castle. If Shine and Jasper had looked at the king and queen before going to where they needed to go, they would have seen them holding each other in their arms, and crying together. Silver and Blaze knew how unfair it was, and knew that it was hurting them, but it was for the good of their daughter._

**Flash Back Ends**

Tails snapped his fingers in front of Shine's face and said, "Hello? Wake up, princess."

"Don't call me that... I wish I were just a normal girl. That way I wouldn't have t hide anymore.", Shine said and started walking to the infirmary to see if she could finally talk to Spit Fire.

Tails watched her leave and sighed to himself, "Believe me, we wish we didn't have to do this to you, Shine."

On the way down the hall, Fuego was walking along side Jet the Hawk. One of the knights that served King Sonic, and now served Silver and Blaze. Though stubborn and a little more than dense, he was happy knowing that a fellow knight had made it into royalty. Fuego was looking enraptured in one of Jet's stories of the days he had spent before meeting Sonic. The days when he was a thief and had little honor.

"And so, my crew and I took the jewel from its resting place and rode out of the cave as fast as we could. Never did we think that the place was booby trapped though.", Jet said before pausing for effect.

Fuego was practically leaning towards the emerald bird before saying, "And? Did you guys make it okay? Did you get trapped and needed help? What happened next?"

Jet smiled and was about to continue when he saw Shine passing and he stood up and gave a salute, "Good morning, your majesty."

"Good morning, Jet... you don't have to call me majesty...", Shine said with a little bit of an embarrassed tone.

"My apologies, just trying to be formal.", Jet said, and then asked, "And where are you off to?"

Shine rolled her eyes and tried not to sound too rude, "Well, I'm just taking a walk around the castle. I got really nothing else to do all month."

"Of course, Shine. Just checking. Perhaps you'd like to sit down while I spin a yarn or two?", Jet asked.

Fuego tilted his head, "You have yarn?"

"That is, I have a story, Fuego. What I said before was a figure of speech.", Jet said and laughed a little.

Fuego didn't really get it, but said, "Tell me more now!"

"I will, I will. What do you say, princess?", Jet asked.

Shine shook her head and kept on walking to the infirmary. The sound of gasps from Fuego, and the telling of a story from Jet faded as she walked farther and farther away from them. Shine got to the doors of the medical wing of the castle and entered. There was a bed with a screen around it for the patient's privacy. That was where Spit Fire was sleeping in. Taking a few tip toeing steps, she heard a voice from the screen, "Who's there?"

"Um... just me.", Shine said nervously.

"And who's me?", the voice asked.

Shine gulped, "Um... uh... I'm the cat that found you in the cave last week."

The voice seemed to be deciding on what to do and say before saying, "Well, let me get a good look at you."

Shine sighed and just walked to the screen, pulled it back, and went in. There he was. The scarlet bird, and all his damage. His feathers were lacking their sheen that any other bird would have when they take care of themselves, his body was put into a cast, and his head had bandages. Shine looked at him with worry and asked, "Do you still hurt?"

"Of course I still hurt. No one gets a beating from King Scourge and usually lives to tell of it. I should really consider myself lucky.", the bird said, "Any way, what brings a pretty thing like you to a place of death, and medically uninsured?"

Shine giggled a little and said, "Well, you're new here, and I wanted to meet you."

"Now why would someone like you want to meet me? You must have lots of friends with a pretty face like yours.", Spit Fire said, making a somewhat gentle smile. It would have been better if it didn't hurt to move his face muscles.

Shine tried her best not to frown and said, "Not really... I'm lucky to see anyone at all. I live in the castle. I'm the queen's personal made.", she was so used to saying this, that she almost believed it.

"Well, such a pretty thing should be in more company than just what's here.", Spit Fire said.

Shine giggled again and said, "Look, you can call me Shine. And you seem to flatter a lot."

"I consider it the prelude to an engaging conversation with a young lady. I try to be open about things like this because I feel that if you are close to a person as you are speaking to them, you can become good friends rather quickly.", Spit Fire noted, "Also, Shine, I feel that making you smile will return the favor for you saving my life."

"The doctors said that you'll be here a while... can I come visit you every once and a while, Spit Fire?", Shine asked, hoping for a positive response.

"Of course you can come visit me. I'm not going to say no to someone as nice as you. Now, could you do me a favor? I would like you to give me some of the juice that is sitting by my table. These casts make it very hard to drink.", Spit Fire said, pointing to the cup of Orange Juice.

Sure enough, their friendship became so. Over the course of three years, the two of them became close. As the first two years went by, Spit Fire's condition improved. With Tails' help, he was able to start walking again, and heal to the point of some recognition. Shine thought he was a rather handsome looking bird. He said he was a Scarlet Falcon, and was glad to be accepted into the kingdom that Silver and Blaze ran. The feeling of depression subsided as from Shine's being, and she became closer to her brother, Jasper, and Spit Fire. She began to live happily ever after... how I wish I could say this were the end of the story, but as noted... in the real world... no happy ending ever come out of the blue.

**Author's Note**

**Well, I finally updated my fic here. Things have started to deepen. Things even look happy here, huh? A lot of you probably even wish to see an ending like this here right now. If you think I'll end a story of my favorite couple and their child end right here, you must really not know me all that well. There is more to explore. Schemes to finish, and twists and turns to be taken. Wish me luck in updating as quickly as I can. Now that School is ending this Friday, I'll be able to update more frequently. See you all very soon so that we can see how things are going to turn out.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Birthday**

Blaze was looking out the window with a worried a look on her face. Tomorrow was to be the day that her darling daughter was to turn seventeen. This would normally make her happy, for it was her daughter's birthday, but she wasn't very happy at all. For all of Shine's life, her birth day was always in secret, and never made a public party. This year, Blaze went behind her husband's back to prepare a party on Shine's behalf. Invitations were sent, and the ball room was being prepared. Silver was there, sleeping on the bed while Blaze had these thoughts run through her mind. Would silver be displeased? Would he be outraged? Will he mind? Will giving a nice party to Shine be worth the trouble if any?

Silver began to stir from his slumber, and he looked at blaze with a smile, "Good morning, my queen."

"Good morning, my king... tomorrow is...", Blaze began, but Silver finished.

"Shine's birthday... I know... we have to prepare a party tonight so we can do this right.", Silver said, looking down.

Though he wouldn't admit it, he really wanted to give Shine a royal birthday party so that she could at least be happy with being a princess. Unfortunately, with the thought of Scourge haunting his every dreams, it got harder and harder for him to ever consider giving a proper birthday. He cleared his throat and said, "We have planning to do..."

"I know... I already made the plans. The chefs and servants are getting the ballroom ready, as well as the invitations...", Blaze said and waited for probably a negative response.

Silver blinked and looked at Blaze for a second. Blaze recognized the look and giggled. Even now, he was still naïve. Blaze led Silver to the window and pointed to the many people who were all rushing around the castle. This was semi normal, and Silver finally caught on, "You mean... you..."

"That's right. Shine is going to have a big surprise tomorrow.", Blaze said with a kind of sheepish smile.

Silver was dumbfounded by this simple fact and did all he could not to overreact. He tried concentrating on positive notes of this. Shine would be happy, and she would finally be able to socialize with other people like a normal Mobian. All this was fine, but the fear of Scourge's spies was still filling every fiber of his being, "Okay... is she going to be dressed as a maid?"

"Nope. Tomorrow, she's going to have a normal party. I am not going to keep her hidden forever, Silver." Blaze said.

Silver shook his head, "I wasn't either, but now? I mean... what if..."

"Silver, we have been paranoid with her for years. If Scourge were going to send spies to look out for her, why hasn't he?", Blaze asked.

"Remember what Tambourine said when Fuego was born?", Silver asked.

"I remember, and nothing else happened since then because Tambourine was put in charge of surveying the kingdom daily for new people.", Blaze said, "On party isn't going to expose her to that scum."

Silver looked down and started pacing back and forth, trying to find a way to cancel this party, but there was none that could be found. He began to wonder why he was so paranoid about the whole matter. Everything Blaze said was making sense, and there was really no reason to feel bad about it. With a few more minutes of thinking it all over, he looked to his queen with a small smile, "Shall I find nice clothing then? I prefer to look good at my daughter's first royal birthday."

Meanwhile, in the forest that gave the kingdom protection every day, we find a certain purple hedgehog that was beginning to look more and more like Silver as the years went by was meditating on a rock. This was something that Espio taught him so that he may be able to feel at ease and one with the environment. This may sound like a lot to put on a seven year old boy, but surprisingly enough, he was serious and mature beyond his years. Learning from Tails when he could, and training with mother and father always helped too. His ears twitched to the left as he heard a tell tale breathing from a near by collection of trees.

He began floating while glowing with a red aura. His eyes flew open and he saw an orb fly his way. He ascended higher to evade the orb as it hit a tree. No damage was shown on the tree, but that's because the source of the attack wasn't into hurting nature. The hedgehog scanned the treeline for the source of the attack, this time he would be ready as many rocks were pulled from the ground to surround him. The rocks were small and were just for defense anyway. Another light orb came flying towards him and he intercepted it with one of his rocks instantly. He then threw another rock towards what appeared to be the source.

"Ouch! Hey, that wasn't funny!", A feminine voice said from one of the bushes.

"Well, no one told you to start a fight with me.", the purple hedgehog began, "Shine, you really ought to be more subtle in your sneak attacks."

"Oh, hush Fuego. One of these days, I will get you when you least expect it.", Shine said as she rose from one of the bushes, rubbing her head a little.

"Just not today, okay sis? Oh, and happy birthday.", Fuego said with a small smile.

Shine smiled back and hugged the young hedgehog tightly, "At least you remembered."

"Like I'd forget my sisters birthday. I'm sorry I couldn't get you anything though.", Fuego said, while returning the hug.

"The fact that you remembered is enough for me, little brother.", Shine replied and let him go.

The duo sat on the ground together and just enjoyed the peace of the forest. Then, a familiar voice sounded in the trees, "You two finished already?"

Shine looked up, and sure enough, Jasper came down in his full suit of armor. He had a great sword that was all his own, and even had a rather nice looking silver hilt. His armor was silver as well, but it wasn't enough to hide the golden hedgehog's fur here and there. With his helmet removed, he looked like a gentle knight.

"Yes, we finished. Good morning, Jasper.", Shine said while hopping to her feet, "And congratulation on becoming one of my father's knights last week."

"Hehe, yeah. The training really paid off. I might show you two a few moves when ever I get the chance.". Jasper said proudly.

"Thanks, but I'll pass. I prefer my flames and psychic powers. Though you can show my sister. She only knows how to handle a rapier blade though.", Fuego said and got up with Shine.

Jasper rolled his eyes and knelt down to eye level with Fuego, "You are too serious. You sure you didn't hit your head when you were growing up?"

"Someone has to be serious. I prefer to be that serious one, as opposed to my naïve sister.", Fuego proclaimed while crossing his arms.

"Love you too brother.", Shine said while rolling her own eyes.

All three of them broke into laughter and started climbing the biggest tree they could find to have a look over the entire kingdom. No matter how many times they saw it, it was still wonderful to see the sun rise over the Emerald Hills. No one could understand why looking at the sun rise at that particular spot was so amazing, but it was just wonderful to watch in general. It made them feel lucky to live in such a glorious kingdom like theirs

"Soon, I'll rule it all. Maybe even as good as mother and father were.", Fuego said.

Shine gave a gentle punch to his arm and nodded, "I know you will be. Just be patient."

Fuego nodded back and just enjoyed the view from atop the tree. Jasper was fiddling with something in his armor, but didn't want to show it to anyone yet. He had gotten something special for Shine on her birthday, and was waiting for a good time to show it to her. He thought this might be a good time, until a voice from below called out, "You three, will you come down?"

The trio looked down from their perch and saw a familiar face that brought a smile to all three of them. It was the scarlet bird himself, Spit Fire. This was enough for all of them to start climbing down. Well, Fuego floated down with the help of his psychic powers and Shine and Jasper were the ones that were left to climb, but everyone gets the picture. Spit Fire smiled at all of them, and waved as they descended. In the few years that he had gotten to know them, he became a sort of guardian to them all. Fuego looked to him for extra training with his pyrokinetic powers, Jasper looked to him for advice on knightship, and Shine saw him as a great friend that was always there for her like Jasper was. The only thing she still didn't want to tell him was that she was Blaze and Silver's daughter. That was to remain a secret until she knew that he could be trusted with it.

"Good to see the three of you are still as active as ever.", Spit Fire said while keeping on his crutch. Though he was healed, the damage he suffered those years ago left his body severely crippled. His left leg wasn't right, and he suffered random muscle spasms.

"Of course we would be, especially today.", Jasper said.

"Ah, yes. The jewel to the eyes is having her birthday today. Another year older, and hopefully wiser.", Spit Fire said with a large and goofy smile on his face.

"One can only hope, Spit Fire.", Fuego said, laughing to himself.

Shine rolled her eyes and patted Fuego's head, "We get it, Fuego. Now, what brings you out here, Spit Fire?"

"Same as every day. Just trying to stretch these joints and hopefully improve my mobility.", Spit Fire said while patting his crippled right leg.

Jasper felt bad for the bird, but he really just wanted to get on with the day. Mostly because he knew about the party that was being arranged today in the ball room. Sure, only a few were going to be there, but it was still going to be a big deal in their eyes. And Jasper was hoping to give Shine her present as soon as possible. Now, that seemed less and less likely, so waiting until night seemed like the better option.

"Now, let's get to work. I am here to train you three a little.", Spit Fire said with smile on his face.

The three younger ones looked at each other then at the bird and just felt a little strange. While it was true that he could train by telling them what to do, but that wasn't what confused them. What confused them was that he had assumed a battle stance after saying the he was going to train them. The bird stood on his good leg with his other just raised so that the lower half of his lame leg was just dangling in the air. His crutch was held by the bottom like a kind of weapon's hilt. His free hand was held in front of him as though it were for defensive purposes.

Fuego stepped in front of Shine and Jasper with a rock floating above him, "I won't go easy on you for even a second. You were the one who taught me to be merciless."

"That I did, but don't underestimate a cornered beast." , Spit fire said, a flame seen coming from his mouth while he spoke.

This was a little shocking for the young hedgehog, but he wasn't willing to back down just yet. He tossed the rock at Spit Fire as quickly as he could while trying to rise above him to get the advantage of higher ground. Big mistake. The bird had jumped up with the strength in his good leg and had tossed a stream of fire down at the hedgehog. Before Fuego could get hit, Shine had created a barrier of light from where she was standing. Shine had an urgent look on her face when she did this, and Jasper had his sword drawn out at the ready. Spit Fire was looking at them from his perch on a nearby tree that was just behind them and smiled, "Not bad for a crippled, huh?"

"Luck was all it was.", Fuego said while starting a fire orb in his left hand.

Shine moved the barrier down with Fuego in it and shook her head in disapproval. Fuego took a couple of calming breaths and looked to Spit Fire, "You weren't really training, you show off."

"Very observant, Fuego. You really would make a good King.", Spit Fire said and came hopping down from the tree. It was more like gliding from the look of it, "Now, I'm glad that I could show much I had recovered, but we need to get the lot of you home."

Shine was confused by this statement, and started to walk to Spit Fire, "Why?"

"Well, as I recall, my dear, it's your birthday today. I believe we should celebrate it appropriately.", Spit Fire said.

Shine giggled once again with him calling her his dear. In the few years that she had known him, Spit Fire had been calling Shine all sorts of flattering names. He claimed that it was just being polite and that it was a good way to keep a conversation flowing nicely, but Jasper said that it was him flirting with a girl that he liked. Either way, Shine didn't mind if it was flirting, or just good conversation, it was certainly nice of him was all.

All four of them began to walk back to the castle, but it took them longer than usual. Spit Fire was slowing them down and, then there were the stops to get some water or at least to inspect a random noise, or unknown tree hole. They were even stopping to see the little chipmunks that were making homes in a tree that they passed. By the time they finally made it home, It was nearly sunset, and Fuego, Jasper, and Shine were all hungry and a little tired. Meanwhile, Spit Fire was proud of the job he had done. Just as they all were opening the doors to the castle, there was a loud shout coming from all directions from a group of Mobians, "Surprise!"

Shine blinked and looked around the area, seeing that the castle interior was decorated with all kinds of colors, and space was made for all the people that were here. She really wasn't expecting this today. Especially since her birthday was usually just celebrated in the back of the castle with the servants. She really didn't know how to feel at this moment in time. All she knew was that it happened. Silver and Blaze looked at their daughter in the entrance with smiles on their faces as the ones who were invited were all cheering for her birthday.

Shine walked among the people who were now saying hello, happy birthday, you look amazing, and all the usual pleasantries. Shine finally was in front of her parents when she asked, "What is all this?"

"Well, your mother and I wanted to do something special for you... give you something we neglected for a while.", Silver said while rubbing the back of his head,

"It's a real birthday party. They still don't know you are who you are, but they are happy mostly for the party and food. You know how people are.", Blaze said and kissed her daughter's cheek.

Shine looked to the group of people and smiled because this was the first time she would ever truly interact with other people. Fuego had already begun socializing, if you could call it that. When he was younger, he would be blushing or trying to hide from people who were saying he was cute, or wanted to talk to him. Now, he wasn't shy, but he was more quiet, and tolerant of people, just not as child like as most think. Jasper was lost to Shine in the crowd, but he never lost sight of her. They were best friends, and were very close, but this crowd felt bigger than it actually was. Spit Fire, was watching the festivities from afar, a small smile on his face, and a heavy weight on his chest for some reason.

"So, I see you're still here.", a voice sounded from below him.

Spit Fire looked down as Tambourine materialized from his shadow. He composed himself calmly, and said, "Of course. Someone has to keep an eye on these kids."

"I do a fine job of that on my own, and with Espio's help as well.", Tambourine said, not at all amused.

"I'm just returning the favor for you guys saving me.", Spit Fire said.

Tambourine flicked at her dreads that were on her shoulder, and a chiming sound resonated from the metal in her hair. She seemed odd to the bird, especially since she usually avoided him on a daily basis, "I tolerated you because the king and queen fell for your little charade. I had you figured from the moment our shadows connected, Pryxo."

The bird froze still, looking at the sapphire eyes of the ebony echidna that stood before him, "I-I don't know who you are talking about... I'm-"

"Save it, phoenix, I know who you are and why you are here. My question to you is why you stay and not report to your king like he told you?", Tambourine asked.

Though his face didn't show it, inside, Pryxo was freaking out. How could she know so much, was he that open of a book, was her touching his shadow really a power of her's? He couldn't take it, but he needed to keep his cover, "I am not reporting anything..."

"Why?", Tambourine asked.

"Consider it a birthday present from me to her. She's too nice to ever come near my king. And the fact that I have been happier here than anywhere else is just enough reason.", Pryxo said, "But I want to stick to Spit Fire."

Tambourine finally broke into a smile, "I know, I was just messing with you. Just know this, you missing will mean one thing, and no one can stop it."

"I know. I've been on this world long enough to understand what happens to an upset king. Though, Silver and Sonic seemed to be the exception to the rule.", Pryxo said.

"Either way, all we can do now, is hope that things don't go horribly wrong. I already have a plan to keep those two safe, but you need to promise that you can hold your end in my plan.", Tambourine said.

Pryxo sighed and looked to Fuego and Shine having their fun with Jasper. They all danced, sang and had a merry good time. Pryxo, though knowing where his loyalty should be, knew he couldn't hurt those kids after getting to know them the way he did. He mouth, "Happy Birthday." to Shine and looked to Tambourine before saying, "I'm listening."

**Author's Note**

**Like no one really saw that coming? I already know that people saw it coming, but I gave this for a few friends to proof read and they never saw this coming. It's hilarious to me, but I am glad to have finally updated. I am aware that I promised to update sooner, but Christmas and this accursed laptop crashing got in the way. Well, I can officially say this, Merry Christmas (late), and a Happy New Year (late). Stay tuned for the next chapter, but that will happen when I finally have caught up in my Academy XIII story. Things will get interesting there too, so stay tuned. This the hopeless romantic saying have awesome lives and never lose sight of happiness.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Discovered**

The birthday party was going on strong. The music was up beat, everyone was smiling, and no one ever said anything of ill will. What could possibly ruin this? Nothing really. But that is the concern for the bat that was listening in on everything being said and all that was going on. Ever since the sun went down, Reverb had been sitting miles away from the kingdom with a certain green hedgehog at his side. There had been concern when Pryxo didn't report back when he was supposed to. There was meant to be a report every two months about any clues on there being a princess in hiding. Communication ended eight months into the mission. Meaning there was about two and a half months of sheer silence.

Reverb had gotten impatient one day and started flying to the kingdom every now and then. The problem was that Tambourine had her shadows spread far during the day, so it made it an issue to listen in on anything. At night, when everyone was asleep, there was nothing to be heard. But, this night was different, so he was able to hear every conversation in that castle from miles away, and in his natural element of the night. The king, Scourge, was getting impatient as well, so he decided to tag along so he could see why it was taking years to do a simple task,

"This is so boring. I'd rather just run and sneak in to the party. Maybe crash it while I'm at it.", Scourge said, laying in the grass with a chili dog in his hand.

Reverb despised the scent of chili dogs. It was disgusting to him, but he was concentrating on his ears, and tried not to notice. There were so many things happening at once, that it was getting too annoying too hard to really focus on any conversation. Then, he picked up on the voices of the king and queen.

Inside the party, Silver looked on at his daughter with a smile. The joy that was written on her face was all he needed to see to make him think that this whole party wasn't dangerous after all, "Blaze, I think we finally did something that made her truly happy."

"You think so? What made you say that? Other than the fact that she hasn't given us that hurt look.", Blaze said as she sipped on her wine glass.

Silver rolled his eyes, "You know what I mean. I just never thought that we could do something like this. I mean... look at her.", he pointed to Shine conversing with others from the village and some her age, "She's even begun to grow up, even after all that we deprived her of."

"We deprived her to keep her safe. Maybe this can be the first step into setting her free?", Blaze asked.

Silver didn't really think about this and started to look at the crowd with a rather blank stare. Could he really just come out of the blue and tell his kingdom that he had hidden their princess from them all these years? Could he really just bare the shameful look from his kingdom for not only denying his daughter freedom, but for depriving his kingdom of it's true successor?The thoughts continued to plague his mind before Blaze shook his arm, "Silver? Are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah... I'm fine.", Silver said, trying to recover from his little moment.

"I'm not saying that we should do it now... I'm saying that we should think about it. She is our daughter, and I understand that we have a duty to our kingdom, but don't we also have a duty to our family?", Blaze said in her usual cool tone.

That was enough for Silver to realize that he was considering the safety of both his kingdom and his daughter, but his daughter should have been his major concern, "You're right. Shine deserves her freedom, and we should give it to her. I promise."

Reverb had a small look of surprise, when he heard this from their mouths. This was almost undeniable proof that there was a princess. Her name is Shine. That much he got. So the feline he had seen must have been her, but he needed to confirm it. Otherwise, he could be made a fool and possibly punished by his king.

"Hear anything useful?", Scourge asked, nearly falling asleep with his sunglasses over his eyes.

Reverb only replied with a grunt before saying, "Silver and Blaze spoke of a girl named Shine. I'm trying to see if I can find out more about her. Because they refered to her as their daughter."

This got Scourge's attention instantly. He hopped to his feet and readied to run back to his kingdom, "I'll get my troops ready to storm this kingdom. When I get back, I expect to hear more when I get back. Got it?"

"Yes, my king.", Reverb said as he continued to listen amongst the party. Another conversation caught his ears as rather astounding.

"Can I be sure to trust you? You cannot speak of this, not even to the prince and princess.", Tambourine said with a tone of urgency.

Pryxo had heard Tambourine's escape plan for them and just felt blown away. How could anything like that be achieved? More importantly, how would it guarantee the safety of Shine and Fuego? With a stern look, he asked, "Could I come with them to keep them safe?"

"No. After they are gone, our world will collapse all together. We will cease to exist, but she will be safe, and so will her brother. Because they will be in a world similar to this.", Tambourine explained.

"But, it sounds so wrong. How can we guarantee that where we send them will be safe? Shine has been hidden, and now that she has come into the open, you want to just send her away and destroy us all as well?", Pryxo asked.

Tambourine nodded and then looked to Pryxo with a tear going down her face, "I don't like that thought as much as you do, but it has to be for her to have a life. Even if it costs our own."

"It's unethical!", Pryxo exclaimed, but knew some where that this was the only option. He knew the strength of Scourge's army and knew that no matter where they would hide her here, he would incinerate everything and destroy the world any way just to get what ever he wanted. To do what Tambourine was suggesting was to make it quick and instant.

"As unethical as it is... I'd rather see her live and have myself die than to see every being die screaming under the wrath of Scourge.", Tambourine said, and looked down.

Pryxo looked all around the room and sighed before asking, "Who else is in on this?"

"Shadow, Knuckles, and us.", Tambourine said, looking up slightly hopeful.

"I'll help. I don't want to see people suffer either... I did plenty of that in my life time.", Pryxo said, recalling the hundreds of years he had seen of death, suffering, and ill will towards one person or another.

Reverb didn't understand a single word of this apocalyptic talk that was taking place and decided to move on to another conversation. Mostly because he now understood that Pryxo had become a traitor and was now going to be punished if this all went well. Then, he heard a young voice call out to the person he had been looking for.

"Shine! Hey, can we talk for a bit?", Jasper asked, rubbing the back of his head.

Shine turned from the others she had been talking to and nodded before leaving the group, "Isn't this great? I'm making so many new friends. It's simply heavenly here."

"Yeah... I wouldn't make friends with the people you were just talking to.", Jasper said warningly.

Shine seemed confused by this before Jasper continued, "You see, those guys you were talking to are kinda bad. I've seen them in school and have gotten into fights with them on occasion because of the way they treat women."

"How do they treat women? They seemed to be rather nice.", Shine said, still confused, but with a smile.

Jasper sighed and tried to think of the cleanest way of putting things into words, "Well, that's a facade. All of it is so you can get to know them from what they want you to see before they treat you as more of a possession than a feline."

Those words caught Shine of guard and she looked back at the men that were now snickering and grinning at one another while eyeing her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable, "I think I'll take your word for it, Jasper.", then she started to giggle.

"What's so funny?", Jasper asked, not helping but to laugh as well.

Shine said in between giggles, "It's just so funny... even though we are supposed to relax... you are still looking out for me..."

Jasper thought about this and blushed slightly, but not enough for it to be noticeable, "Well, as I recall, it is my job to keep you safe from any form of harm. Or to at least try to."

"Well, you're doing a good job. Now, what was it you wanted to talk about?", Shane asked taking a sip of her punch.

Jasper took out his little gift that he had wanting to give to Shine for a long time and finally presented it to her, "I wanted to give you this for your birthday, Shine."

"That's so sweet of you, Jasper... you didn't need to get me anything.", Shine said, looking at the little package.

Jasper smiled, "I know, but since this is your first real party, I wanted to give you something special."

Shine gently took the package from his hands and looked at it, wanting to badly open it. Instead, Jasper put a hand on her's and shook his head, "Not yet. Open it when it's midnight and the moon is full. Lucky for us, the moon will be full tonight."

Shine pouted and giggled, "Fine, but don't be surprised if I take a little peak."

Jasper rolled his eyes but laughed, "I won't be, but I trust you not to do it."

Shine then put it gently into her pocket and asked, "Was there anything else you wanted to ask?"

"Well... I wanted to talk a little about us...because we've known each other for a long time, and have been really close friends...", Jasper began, rubbing the back of his head.

Shine nodded, and just tilted her head in confusion for him pointing out the rather obvious, "Yeah...?"

"And I was thinking... if a certain someone were to say that they like you and have liked you for a while... what would you say?", Jasper asked a little nervously.

"Oh, like a new friend?", Shine asked with a smile.

Jasper seemed a little more nervous this time, "No... I mean as more than a friend... and the someone were... me?"

Shine blinked not because of the question, but because of the fact that she never really thought about something like this. Though she dreamed of making new friends, and seeing something other than the castle and forest, she never really thought about her future, or finding love. With a sigh, she looked to Jasper and said, "Jasper... I really don't know what to say..."

Jasper was already looking down with a saddened look on his face and said, "Even a hidden princess has her standards then, huh?"

"No, it's not that... I just never thought about...", Shine started, but Jasper walked away and to the outside of the castle.

Shine was left with the crowd of people all by herself. She felt bad and looked down before Fuego came to her side and asked, "What happened?"

"I lost a friend...", Shine said.

Fuego looked at Jasper from one of the windows and sighed before saying, "He trusted me not to tell you that he likes you. For a while actually. He just never thought that you'd be happy with him or anything like that.

Shine took a deep breath and said, "I just don't know, okay? I never thought about a relationship before... I barely think about my future except to be free..."

"I know, but he wanted to try.", Fuego said and started walking to the door to go talk to Jasper when Jasper ran inside and took Fuego in his arms, and tackled Shine to the ground.

Before a question could be asked, an explosion went off, and the sound of screaming filled the air as well as a strange but familiar laughter. Shine had her eyes closed and was afraid to open them when she felt people surrounding her from all sides. If she opened her eyes, she'd see that Jet, Shadow, Knuckles, Tambourine, Pryxo surrounded her with their swords out, except for the crippled Pryxo. Where a wall stood, there was now only a hole that lead into the night. When the dust cleared, a grinning green hedgehog walked in, "Silver, Blaze, I think it's time you and I needed to talk about lying to one another."

When Shine got the courage to open her eyes and see who it was that as talking, they widened when she saw that he was looking right back at her, "S-scourge..."

Scourge's eyes were filled with satisfaction over fear and the sight of the confirmed information given by Reverb, "Hello, princess. I'm King Scourge. Your future husband."

**Author's Note**

**Wow, it's about time I got to some juicy stuff. For those disappointed, I'm sorry. For those who are happy, hooray! And for those who just want to see what happens next, well I hope to update soon. Everyone, pray for Shine and Fuego, because they might need it if they're going to survive in this new nightmare.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Escape**

Satisfaction, blood lust, regular lust, excitement, all these emotions were all that Scourge was feeling when he saw the look of fear on the faces that were in the party. All the citizens, the knights, the king and queen, and especially the princess that he felt was long over due for his brand of "love". His left hand gripping his sword with anticipation, wanting badly to cut at enyone's throats, he simply took a breath and said, "My, what a party. A birthday party at that. This is all very nice. Don't stop on my account. After all, what's a lie between such good and friendly kingdoms, huh?"

Shadow looked through his visor and growled as he heard such words coming from the green hedgehog, "You are no friend, or even ally to us. Get out of here!"

"How dare you!", Reverb shouted, readying his claws and voice.

Scourge put a hand in front of the flustered bat and said, "Now, that was a bit rude. Granted that we did crash a party, this is no way to treat someone who was responsible for keeping your kingdom alive. You should all be grateful for my generosity.", he then paused to see if there was some affect.

Naturally, there was. Everyone in the kingdom knew that after the incident with Mephiles, the kingdom was in absolute ruin. The chances of it surviving was dwindling until Scourge offered to assist in paying for damages, and for funeral expenses. He did so and even sent some of his men to assist in the reconstruction of the homes. That couldn't be denied. Even the knights had to acknowledge that they were in fact in debt to Scourge, despite their dislike for him.

"As true as that is, Scourge. A life is not worth what you did for us.", Silver said, as he was in his armor.

Apparently, Blaze and Silver were both wearing armor under their party clothing. How they managed to keep their weapons hidden was anyone's guess. Shine never saw her parents in armor, except in paintings. The art did the real thing no justice at all. Blaze had her rapier blade pointed in Scourges direction, "We know why you're here, and you might as well go."

"Look, I'm just here to claim what you denied me for all these years. Come on, you know it's right.", Scourge said, eyeing Shine rather intensely.

Silver took a deep breath before looking at Blaze for confirmation. Blaze nodded, knowing what he was about to say. Silver looked to Scourge with his sword pointed at Scourge before shouting, "It's war then!"

If anyone were to have looked directly into Scourge's eyes with out going into madness, you could see that he was both angry and happy at once. If that could even make sense. He was happy that war was declared and that he was confident enough that he could win this with out any effort. He was angry that they would even think of fighting someone with his strength. When the word war was called, Shadow rushed to the front and began cutting down any of Scourge's men that he could see. Tambourine wasn't to far behind with her twin swords slashing and clashing into other swords.

Jet was naturally the next to begin the charge, but then again, so was Scourge's army after they finally woke up. Though not the brightest bunch, Scourge's army still had numbers and some strength. This was enough for them to get a couple of good swings at the trio that had charged, but not enough to start getting cut down one by one. Shine looked at the battle with confusion before being lead by Knuckles, and Jasper out of the battle through the back of the room. Fuego even followed, but was tempted to join in the fight when he saw a Pryxo, whom he still thought was Spit Fire, had jumped into the air and started to spray fire down on the enemies that had surrounded him.

Blaze and Silver were back to back as the soldiers began to start flooding in. Silver holding one sword instead of his usual two, and Blaze in a dual stance while holding on to her rapier. Silver looked over his shoulder to Blaze and said, "You know, this could be the last battle we ever have..."

"I know... but at least she'll be safe.", Blaze said with a smile on her face, "That's enough to make me believe that this is worth it."

Both nodded and flung themselves in opposite directions. Silver was hacking at bodies and removing heads with his blade while Blaze merely reduced everyone of her opponents to swiss cheese with her lightning fast stabs. While this battle was all happening with in the castle, Shine and Fuego were being lead away from the fight, hoping to get somewhere safe.

"Where are we going? What about mom and dad?", Shine asked.

"They'll be fine. They faced worse than this. Right now, we need to worry about getting you and your brother to safety.", Knuckles said, as they turned a corner and arrived at his home.

Knuckles opened the door, let them all in, and quickly closed it behind them, "Jasper, get your mother and I'll get the Master Emerald. Shine, Fuego, both of you stay here, and don't dare move."

After giving his orders, they all obeyed with out question. Though it was normal for the princess or the prince to be giving the commands, it was not the case for this situation. This was obviously serious, and both Shine and Fuego knew it. Jasper ran into his mother's room and shook her awake, "Mom, dad is getting the Master Emerald, and we have to get out of here."

Tikal woke with a start, hearing the part about the Master emerald and instinctively knowing what she had to do. She quickly got into her priestess robes and ran down with Jasper. Knuckles had already come up from the basement with the Chaos Emerald on his back, saying, "Alright, time to move. With everyone distracted in the castle, we should be safe and be able to move quickly."

"Where are we going?", Jasper asked, not knowing what was going on.

Knuckles only said, "To the emerald hills. We need to get to Sonic's sword."

Shine remembered that Sonic's sword was his grave marker, and the place where Blaze and Silver had first met each other. She remembered well from the stories that she was told of when she was a child. All five of them started out the door, when a small group of soldiers appeared from no where, and readied to cut down at them all. Bad move, especially since while Jasper was getting his mother woken up, he was also after his sword and shield. Before the soldiers even raised their swords, Jasper knocked them aside with his shield and cut at the one that was still standing. This was enough to scare the soldiers that were down into running off.

"Cowards!", Jasper shouted, putting his sword back in it's scabbard.

Knuckles smiled to his son," That's my boy."

With a nod, they were all on the move again, making their way to the Emerald Hills. May luck be with them. Meanwhile, in the castle, Shadow was reverse wielding his sword, running as fast as he ever could and cutting at the legs of the soldiers he passed. When the soldiers were distracted by the pain, either Tambourine or Jet were the ones who finished off the by stabbing their backs, or cutting off their heads. They wanted clean kills with out any suffering. The citizens were either running away from the fight, or looking for something so that they could also join in the fight.

Pryxo had finished off one soldier before Reverb suddenly appeared, his wings fully stretched so that he could at least look intimidating, "You would betray your king?"

"I betrayed no one, Reverb. I just couldn't stand taking orders from someone so immoral!", Pryxo shouted, sending fire darts out of his hand and aimed at Reverb.

The darts missed and caught onto a curtain where it burst into flames and it began to spread. Reverb snarled while baring his fangs, looking more animal than he did Mobian. If that is considered an improvement, then so be it. Pryxo summoned fire from his fingers and said, "Don't do this, Reverb... you don't have to follow such a sickening king anymore."

"I know, but I want to. Let's face it, he's a lot more fun than those other kings who believe in justice and good will. It makes me sick to the very core.", Reverb said before taking a deep breath.

Pryxo knew what this meant, and shouted to let everyone know, "Everyone cover your ears!", and he followed his own advice as well.

Shadow and Tambourine heard it, and jumped away from the fight to cover their ears. Silver and Blaze followed after keeping a few goons off their backs. Jet, on the other hand, was still fighting, and had not heard the warning. Reverb let out an ear piercing screech that was high enough pitched to shatter the windows in the castle. Those who didn't cover their ears began to hear ringing and even felt their ears pop. Jet even began to kneel in agonizing pain as he dropped his swords and tried to cover his ears. It was too late though. What should have been easy to cover, was hard as blood began to come from his ears.

Pryxo kept his ears covered and started to breathe fire at Reverb. He jumped into the air, and took flight over the crowd, keeping his screech as long as he could. The only one that didn't seem to be affected by the noise was Scourge, who just ignored the sound all together.

"A pain, huh? After having ear plugs and being exposed to such noise for a few years, you grow used to it.", Scourge shouted, readying to stab into Jet's heart.

Silver took his hand off his left ear, feeling the full might of the sound penetrate his ear before he pointed his hand to Reverb and had him trapped in his aura. The feeling of being captured interrupted his sound wave long enough for Silver to force Reverb to the ground and break a wing while he was at it. Silver brought his body back up and made it hit the ground again, making a spike that was sticking out of the ground, sending the spike through his wind pipe.

Everyone stopped the fight to look at silver, whose ear was bleeding, making it completely useless. He even snapped a finger to it to find that he couldn't hear anything out of it. Scourge made a laugh as he said, "A necessary loss. At least you're crippled, and weak enough for me to finish."

With that, Scourge balled up into a spin dash with his sword in hand and readied to strike Silver down while he was vulnerable. Shadow intercepted with his own spin dash and their swords collided, stopping them both.

"If you lay a finger on my king, you will not live to see what ever future you have planned.", Shadow growled.

Scourge only laughed and jumped back before ordering his men to continue the battle. It seemed like his army was limitless, and even the citizens were having a tough time repelling them. The citizens that the knights swore to protect were dying out one by one, faster than Scourge's army. His forces didn't care if they died or not. They only thought of the furry of their king if they didn't succeed in taking the princess.

Silver saw the fight that was going on with Shadow and Scourge and cursed himself for having his ear unusable. It was a blind spot that could be easily exploited, and one of his knights was completely useless. Jet tried so hard to hear, but could only look at everyone fighting and not fight. He couldn't tell that an enemy was behind him until Pryxo came down and burned the foe to a crisp.

"Birds of a feather stick together.", Pryxo muttered.

It was a good thing that Jet couldn't hear, or he would have just knocked Pryxo out for saying such a stupid and old saying. Jet got his swords back in his hands and went back to the fight. Although he was a little clumsy with the fight, he could still handle himself with out much problems. Blaze was busy scorching enemies of her own. She didn't want to take any chances of weakness, so she kept her guard and flames up. Silver saw this and felt more inferior than before. With out anything being said, he put up his aura and began walking into the battle. Anyone that came in range of his aura was immediately caught and frozen in place. Silver knew that once and for all, he was going to destroy the biggest threat to his daughter.

"So, Shadow, you serve Sonic, then Silver, and you are pretty strong. If you help me, I could offer you a kingdom, a place of high power.", Scourge said behind every sword swing.

Shadow looked like he was thinking about it before shooting a Chaos Spear at him, "No thanks, I kind of got it good here."

Scourge growled before deflecting the Chaos Spear with his sword and seeing some of his own men surround Shadow. A plan comes to mind and he smirks before running in a circle around Shadow. The high speed and circling was enough to create a miniature tornado around Shadow. This was enough for Shadow to drop his guard as he didn't expect an attack, but rather to be confused. Unfortunately, he underestimated Scourge as he felt the blade enter his stomach and go through his back. Scourge was inches away from Shadow's face when he uttered, "Pity. You would have been a good king. Oh well. Less competition for me."

All of Scourge's men saw Shadow fall, coughing up blood as he did. This made the men all hungry for blood, wanting to cast down what ever morality they had and destroy every living being that was there. Even Scourge felt that he had power now. He looked to his men and shouted, "Destroy them all! Leave not a single one of them breathing!"

Every last one of them shouted as the screams of the dying and innocent began to be slayed. Pryxo, Silver, Blaze, and a deaf Jet were trying their very best to ensure that they could at least survive. While this was happening, Shine, Jasper, Fuego, Tikal and Knuckles were all arriving at the spot in the Emerald Hills where Sonic's sword lay. The blade was stuck into the ground and despite the years that have passed, it never dulled, rusted, or even aged. Knuckles was panting, not only because age was catching up to him, but because the Emerald, both metaphorically and literally, was a heavy burden. Jasper slowed down and assisted Knuckles in putting the Emerald next to the sword. Tikal was catching her breath with Shine and Fuego.

"We have to hurry... Before Scourge catches up.", Knuckles said, positioning the Master Emerald to be directly behind the sword.

Jasper looked at his father and asked, "What do you mean? Won't the king and queen win?"

Knuckles only remained silent as he took deep breaths started chanting to the Master Emerald. Even Jasper knew that if his father didn't answer, it was either a no or really bad news. Jasper really hoped it was just a simple no. As Knuckles began to chant, a strange blue furred figure materialized next to the Master Emerald. In all the years that Shine and Fuego, even Jasper had known each other, none of them ready to see what appeared.

"Been a while, Knuckles. You don't say hi anymore.", the figure said while looking at the Emerald.

Knuckles gave a small smile his way and said, "My former king, you know I have been busy, and still am."

The king nodded and looked to his grandchildren for the first time and said, "Wow, you two got a lot of your mother in you."

Jasper stuttered at the sight of the hero, "S-sonic? K-king S-sonic... No way..."

Shine was left completely speechless but before she or Fuego could utter a word, Knuckles coughed to get Sonic's attention, and he nodded to him before putting his hands to the Master Emerald and joining in the chant. Tikal saw that they all were staring at Sonic, so she decided to at least try and give them something to think about, "Shine, did your father ever tell you how you got your name?"

"I thought it was because of my powers...", Shine said, not really understanding why something like this was being discussed.

"Well, it was more. On the night you were born, you were the most beautiful thing they had ever seen. The midnight moon hit your fur just as they were ready to name you and thought that the sight of your fur glowing was the most wonderful thing in the world. Then, they realized you didn't glow. You Shined.", Tikal said while hugging her tightly.

Shine felt a small pang in her heart. Something told hr that this was the last hug from her that she'd get. Tikal let Shine go, then went to Fuego and knelt down, "When you were born, your mother and father were so proud. You looked so much like your father, and everyone was ready to put you in a crib so that they could name you. Then you accidentally burnt one of the nurses, making her drop you. The whole room went into chaos, but you never hit the ground. You floated yourself into the crib and went into sleep. The nurses were screaming Fuego. We found out later that it was Spanish for fire. Your mother and father loved the sound of the name and gave it to you. You were such a good boy."

Fuego smiled and hugged Tikal. He understood what was going on, and so did Jasper. Jasper went next to Shine and said, "Hey... you can open your gift now... trust me, you'll want to do it..."

"Now? But...", Shine said before Jasper shook his head and pointed to her pocket where she kept the small box.

Shine sighed before digging into her pocket and pulling out the box. She carefully opened the box and gasped when she saw what was inside. It was a clear crystal on a chain. It was no bigger than her thumb and in a nice diamond shape. When she held it up to the full moon, she saw colors forming on every part of the crystal. Not because of the light, but because it was literally changing color from exposure to the moon. It was red, then purple, then blue, green, it did every color. Shine could only smile and hold it close to her heart, "Jasper, it's beautiful. Thank you."

Jasper smiled and gave Shine a hug. This gave Shine that same feeling she got from hugging Tikal and she felt a tear come out of her eye while hugging back. Jasper only wiped the tear away and said, "Promise not to lose it... okay?"

Shine nodded and gave a small kiss on his cheek. Jasper did the same kind of kiss for Shine and smiled. She finally understood why everyone was sad and doing all of this. Shine was never coming back to this place, and she had to say good bye. Her only saddening part was that she couldn't say good bye to her mother and father, who may be dead at this point. A sound of thunder broke her saddening thoughts as a strange opening appeared out of thin air. It lead into a tunnel of multiple colors. Knuckles stopped his chanting, and looked to Sonic as they nodded to each other.

Tikal said, "It's time to go, Shine, and Fuego."

Fuego looked back in the direction of where the castle should be standing, then at Shine. Both of them looked at each other and then sighed before taking each other's hand and walking to the opening. Both waved at everyone that was there and said, "We won't forget you... we love you..."

Jasper waved good bye before Tikal and Knuckles came to him a group hug. Shine and Fuego jumped into the opening, and it suddenly closed behind them. With a sound that was similar to the sound of glass breaking, the world that Shine and Fuego were both born and raised in, ended.

**Author's Note**

**Wow, that took a while to do. I feel kind of bad for the story to just completely end this way. As my friend INFERNOX once said, "With every end, a new beginning is just waiting." Those words are absolutely true. For those who think that this is the end of Shine and Fuego, you have no idea how wrong you really are. And this story isn't finished yet, either. Stay tuned for the Epilogue. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Epilogue**

Fear. Regret. Sorrow. Her eyes refused to open to look at where she was spiraling into. She didn't even dare to open her eyes when she heard the sound of her world shater into little pieces like glass. Fuego saw it though. He could see the flashing colors as he saw different pieces fly pass him. He could see the castle, the emeralds, the knights... and he could see his parents. Though it was only for a second, that second was long enough for him to see Silver and Blaze were lying on the ground side by side. Blood was coming out of their wounds, but their suffering was over, now that their world was gone as well. Fuego clung to Shine as they went spiriling on and on, still, Shine refused to open her eyes.

"Shine... Are you okay? Are you scared?", Fuego asked, his voice cracking slightly from shock.

Shine didn't responde for a second before she took a deep breath and said, "No. Why would you think that, Fuego?"

"Because I'm scared...", Fuego said, and a tear escaped his eyes and it landed on Shine's dress.

Shine shot her eyes open and she looked down at Fuego just holding on to her and crying. It was very rare to see her brother cry like he was right now. It only happened one other time when he found and befreinded a caterpiller he found in the forest. It was eaten by a spider later, and he mourned for it's death. That was really his only experience with death before now. Shine looked around at the swirling colors of many worlds just passing by. That's when she saw some of the shards of her own world passing by as well. All those faces, frozen in time, never to have a future passed that.

Do not be afraid. Do notfeel sadness. Rejoice at your survival. Enjoy it while you can.

"D-did you say something, Shine?", Fuego asked, hearing those words reverberate through the long tunnel of colors.

"I didn't say anything, Fuego... I thoughtt that was you...", Shine said, looking all around, hoping to find the source.

_Do not be afraid. I will guide you towards your destination. I will see that you remain safe._

Fuego and Shine were rather soothed by the sound, and even began to look less and less afraid. For some reason, the voice seemed rather familiar. Almost like they had heard it before, but where did they hear it? It was something in the back of their minds, but before they could progress further into their memory and thought, a light began to blanket them. Fuego looked at Shine, expecting it to be her. It was not. It came from no where.

_You have a long journey ahead of you where you will be going. Children of Light and Fire, youur destinies will be realized._

Destiny? Their world was destroyed and this strange soothing voice is saying that they have to deal with something else? What could it be? Why them? Shine just felt the soothing light take her and she began to feel a little drowsy. Fuego even felt the same way. He felt his sense of being alert going down, but his fear had returned. As did Shine's. Fear of this strange unknown. Fear for what will become of them and where they might end up.

_Do not be afraid..._

Why was this voice saying this? Why not be afraid? All they were doing was flying to Chaos knew where, and it expected them not to be afraid? On top of that, the light that might have come from the voice was just making them fall asleep.

_Do not be afraid. Do not falter from your goal..._

Their eyes were getting heavier as they continued through the light. There was something that they were seeing though. Something far, but getting closer ever so quickly.

_Find the other five Children. Find them and save this world..._

Other's? Were their other from their world that escaped? Why was this voice calling them children? Shine could see a blackness in that distance and it continued to grow. They were moving faster, and she was getting more and more tired.

_Always remember... you are the ones..._

Shine's eyes had just closed, but she was still awake enough to hear the last line said as she felt herself fall into a slumber and she also felt that she left the colorful tunnel forr good.

_You are the ones who will return the balnce..._

**Author's Note**

**Wow, took me a while to finally update this fic, huh? Sorry about that, remember, I'm entitled to my procrastination as well. I do love writing, but things in my life seem to always get in my way. But I am gunna make a bet on something. You probably expected this to be the completely last story. Well the answer is yes and no. Surprise! This Trilogy is just one big prologue to a story that I have been meaning to do for a long time now. You saw the original characters, and tolerated the extreme references to movies, and other books, and you have seen and tolerated the Sonic and Sally pairing, but it was was just one big prologue. My friends, thank you for taking the time to read through my fiction, tolerating my spelling errors, and especially tolerating the couples used in the story, for I am aware that there are people out there who might not have liked the pairings that I used. I thank you all for reviewing and telling me all the things I did wrong and for taking the time from your lives to just come and read. You are all the best and are what kept me writing. For those who want to see what happens now, stay tuned for the Children of the Elements story. Please review as I do enjoy feedback that is both positive and negative. -looks back at epilogue- Could I have done anymore Kingdom Hearts refrences?**


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